PINE FORESTS 



rocky precipices on the worst possible soil, in spite of storm 

 and snow. 



But to realize the romance of a Pine forest, it is necessary 

 to tramp, as in Germany one sometimes has to do, for thirty 

 miles through one unending black forest of Coniferous trees ; 

 there are no towns, scarcely a village or a forester'^s hut. The 

 ground is covered with brown, dead needles, on which scarcely 

 even green moss can manage to live. 



Then one realizes the irritating monotony of the branches 

 of Pines and Spruces, and their sombre, dark green foliage 

 produces a morose depression of spirit. 



The Conifers are, amongst trees, like those hard-set, 

 gloomy, and determined Northern races whose life is one 

 long, continuous strain of incessant endeavour to keep alive 

 under the most difficult conditions. 



From its very earliest infancy a young Pine has a very 

 hard time. The Pine-cones remain on the tree for two years. 

 The seeds inside are slowly maturing all this while, and the 

 cone-scales are so welded or soldered together by resin and 

 turpentine that no animal could possibly injure them. 

 How thorough is the protection thus afforded to the young 

 seeds, can only be understood if one takes a one-year-old 

 unopened cone of the Scotch Fir and tries to get them out. 

 It does not matter what is used ; it may i^e a saw, a chisel, 

 a hammer, or an axe : the little elastic, woody, turpentiny 

 thing can only be split open with an infinite amount of 

 trouble and a serious loss of calm. 



When these two years have elapsed, the stalk of the cone 

 grows so that the scales are separated, and the seeds become 

 rapidly dry and are carried away by the wind. 



These seeds are most beautiful and exquisitely fashioned. 



The seed itself is small and flattened. It contains both 



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