i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Norway or Red Pine. 



Pinus rciiinosa — Ait. 

 Xorway pine grows from Newfoundland 

 and the northern shores of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence through Ontario and Manitoba 

 and other southern Canadian prov- 

 inces; through the northern states 

 of the eastern section of this coun- 

 try, and as far west as Minnesota, 

 "Wisconsin and Michigan; as far 

 south as Massachusetts, the moun- 

 tains of Pennsylvania and sections 

 of Ohio. It reaches its highest de- 

 velopment and greatest abundance 

 on the northern borders of the first 

 named states. In southern Massa- 

 chusetts and southward it is rare 

 and local. 



This tree thrives best in light 

 sandy loam or upon rocky ridges. 

 It is usually found scattered 

 through forests of other northern 

 conifers; when in groves, rarely 

 covering any extensive area. 



Various names are applied to 

 trees of this botany. In Vermont, 

 New Hampshire, New York, Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota and Ontario they 

 are called red pine; in Maine, New 

 Hampshire, Vermont Massachu- 

 setts, New York, "Wisconsin, Mich- 

 igan, Minnesota and Ontario, Nor- 

 way pine; in "Wisconsin, hard pine; 

 in England, Canadian red pine. 



The leaves of Finite resinosa are 

 needles, five to eight inches long, 

 slender and flexible; simple; gla- 

 brous; growing in groups of two 

 along the branches, and having a 

 long sheath at the base of each; 

 the under side is hollowed, the top 

 surface rounded. The leaves elus- 

 tervery thicklj' along the branches, 

 particularly at the ends, their bold, 

 vigorous outlines scarcely being ex- 

 celled in beauty by the palm. 



The bark is reddish brown, its 

 appearance being responsible for 

 the name "red pine" given to the 

 tree in many localities. It is very 

 smooth when young, but grows 

 scaly with age. 



The flowers of Norway pine ap- 

 pear in May or June. The staminate 

 ones grow in dense spikes and are dark 

 purple in color; the pistillate are scarlet, 

 growing upon short stalks. The fruit of the 

 tree is a cone, two to three inches long. In 

 shape it is ovate-conical. Its scales are 

 rounded at the base, devoid of prickly 

 points, and are glabrous. They shed their 

 seeds early in the Fall and usually remain 

 on the branches until the following Summer. 

 The seeds are oval and winged, with a thin 

 dark shell. 



In general appearance the tree is exceed- 



THIETV-SIXTH PAPER. 



ingly handsome, with its tall straight trunk 

 and .thick spreading branches, "pendulous, 

 clothing the young stems to the ground and 

 forming a broad irregular pyramid; in old 

 age, an open round-topped picturesque 



TYPICAL FOKEST (JUIlWTH NuKWAY Pl.NE. NORTHERN 

 WISCONSIN. 



head." Norway pine is often planted by 

 landscape gardeners, especially in parks, and 

 is considered by them the most desirable 

 pine tree for ornamental purposes found in 

 tlie northern states. 



The wood is light, hard, durable and not 

 very resinous. Its grain resembles that of 

 short-leaf yellow pine. In color it is pale 

 red, the sapwood much lighter. The medul- 

 lary rays are numerous and pronounced. The 

 grain is very close. A cubic foot of seasoned 

 wood weighs thirty-one pounds. Norway 



pine makes excellent flooring, and is particu- 

 larh- adapted to construction requiring great 

 strength — car sills, bridges, piles, masts, 

 spars, posts, girders, sills and joist. 



The wood is sometimes commercially han- 

 dled with white pine, and is ex- 

 ported in considerable quantities 

 from Canada to Great Britain. It 

 is an unimportant factor in the- 

 manufacture of turpentine and 

 resin, although its botanical name 

 would indicate otherwise; the bark 

 contains considerable tannin. 



Notably in Chicago and surround- 

 ing territory, Norway joists, tim- 

 bers, strips, etc., constitute an im- 

 portant part of lumber commerce. 

 "With the diminution of the forest 

 area supplying Norway pine, the 

 requirements formerly met by this 

 wood are being filled very largely 

 by yellow pine. Chicago is still 

 the most important center for the 

 distribution of Norway in the 

 world, the Edward Hines Lumber 

 Company of that city being the 

 chief factor in the trade. 



The first illustration accompany- 

 ing this article depicts a perfect 

 specimen, although not of unusual 

 size, of Norway pine forest growth, 

 and was photographed on the prop- 

 erty of the Hackley-Phelps-Bonnell 

 Company, near Hackley, "Wis. The 

 pictures on the opposite page were 

 taken at operations of the Edward 

 Hines Lumber Company of Chi- 

 cago ; one showing skidways of 

 Norway pine logs on a northern 

 Wisconsin property and the other 

 unloading fine Norway timbers 

 from a vessel at the company 's 

 Chicago yards. The etching shows 

 a closed and an open cone, and a 

 bit of straw. 



The Smallest Tree. 

 The midget of the entire tree 

 family is said to be the Greenland 

 birch. The bluffs along the east 

 and southeast coast of Greenland 

 are covered with a dense growth 

 of this diminutive species of 

 woody plant. Under the most 

 favorable conditions of growth the 

 seldom ha.s been known to at- 

 tain a height exceeding ten inches, and the 

 general run are from six to eight inches 

 high. However, it is well proportioned, and 

 is in every sense of the word a perfect tree. 

 It lives from seventy-five to one hundred 

 and thirty years. Dense thickets of the 

 species are found in Greenland in places 

 where the soil is very poor and frozen from 

 eight to ten months out of the year, which 

 nevertheless flourish half a century without 

 exceeding four inches in height. 



tree 



