PINUS LONGIFOLIA. 307 



mentions Gullar, Thansa, and Gurul, and states, on the authority 

 of Colonel' Cautley, that there is more than one species known 

 under these names. 



There are two varieties, one which has its woody fihres twisted, 

 and therefore by the natives said to be Kutcha, the other in 

 which the fibres are straight. The Kutcha trees have the wood 

 of a white colour, and open in the grain; the Pucka, reddish white, 

 and compact; but this character is not permanent, as sometimes 

 the wood, though white, is Pucka, and straight-fibred. Invariably 

 the reddish white wood is preferred by the natives, and on felling 

 a tree, and on finding this, the remark is, "it is Khoob Pucka." 

 To make lathing this variety alone is adapted, and it is sold under 

 the name of Dadur. In felling the Cheer wood for architectural 

 purposes, it is of consequence to ascertain that the variety is the 

 straight-fibred, as the other is so apt to warp and split. 



In all places where the Cheer is found growing at an elevation 

 of 5000 feet and upwards, with a northern aspect, and on poor 

 soil, there the variety is invariably the straight-fibred, and the 

 wood is good ; again, in southern localities and lower down, it is 

 twisted in the fibre, and of but little use in architecture. At 

 Hawalbaugh, near Almorah, 4500 feet above the level of the sea, 

 a forest of Cheer Pine occurs with a westerly exposure, hundreds 

 of the trees being upwards of eighty and ninety feet in length, and 

 eight and twelve feet in girth ; but here all the timbers have 

 twisted fibres, and are, therefore, useless. Distant from this about 

 three miles to the northward, there are two forests, at about the 

 same elevation, with northern exposure, and growing on poor soils, 

 the debris of clay-slate, with all their timbers straight-fibred, and 

 the wood excellent, and from these districts the wood used at the 

 military station of Almorah is supplied. 



This opinion regarding the value of sites where Pine trees are 

 grown is not, we are aware, in accordance with those of many : 

 but we here give facts, as exhibited in the Himalayahs. Matthew, 

 in his treatise on naval timber, states that the Pinus sylvestris, if 

 grown on good or rich soil, attains rapidly large dimensions and 

 its best timber properties. 



Uses. — Like the Deodar the Cheer is extensively used for build- 

 ing boats on all the rivers in the Punjab, but particularly at 

 Bhyrowal on the Beyas. Boats built of this wood do not last more 

 than six or seven years. On the other rivers where Deodar is 

 procurable this kind of wood is extensively used to line the inside 

 of boats. 



