FOREST TREES. 



157 



soil of the Beech and Maple woods, the Pine attains its greatest bulk 

 and height. There, straight, tall, and robust, it looks indeed the monarch 

 of the woods, unequalled even by the stately Oak so often called the 

 King of trees. 



When growing in open ground as on some of our plain-lands where 

 the soil is light, the Pine develops an abundance of lateral branches 

 and a bushy head, which give it so different an appearance, that you 

 might be inclined to regard it as a distinct species, quite unlike the Pine 

 of the forest. These branching feathery Pines seldom attain to any great 

 size and are very handsome objects, with their dark evergreen boughs 

 clothing the stem even to the ground, but they are only useful for 

 ornament in the landscape. As timber they are worthless for building 

 purposes. 



In the dense forest it is not till it has surmounted the tops of the 

 adjacent trees, which have hitherto disputed its right to a fair share of 

 air and light, that the Pine is able to develop its branches. Up to this 

 period of its life its course has been upwards, always upwards — its branches 

 few and weak and but scantily clothed with leaves, scarcely give promise 

 for its glorious future — it has had to work its way under many difficulties, 

 but having once obtained access to freer air and sunshine, it increases 

 in growth rapidly. The comparative height of the Pines may be seen at 

 a glance by casting your eye along the dark line that divides them from 

 the hardwood trees. They stand in serried ranks, their arms extending 

 on either side in a horizontal direction like an army drawn up in line. 

 Each whorl of branches answers for a year's growth. The usual way 

 in which the age of a tree is ascertained is by counting the rings of 

 wood, each ring counting for a year, but this is not a perfectly accurate 

 method, as in its early infancy these woody deposits cannot be ascer- 

 tained, and a time may come when the tree, having attained to its 

 perfect maturity, may continue to exist as a tree, long after its vital 

 functions have ceased to add tc) its yearly substance to any appreciable 

 amount. There is another way in which we may approach to a knowledge 

 of the tree's age, this is by counting the whorls of branches which are 

 added year by year till it has attained its full meridian height. The leaves 

 deepen in colour till about the beginning of July when they have reached 

 their usual size. This growth of leaves endures the intense cold of winter 

 but as the frost intensifies they lose their verdure and acquire a sombre 

 blackish hue. A perceptible change has come over the evergreens, even 

 these hardy natives of the forest seem to mourn the absence of the warm 

 sunbeams, and to be sensible of the iron rigours of a Canadian Winter. 



In April the rising of the sap is felt in every branch, fresh energy 

 pervades the tree in every part. A deep refreshing greenness enlivens 



