1 16 IIILLMAN : 



which fertilization is effected, for it conveys the pollen directly 

 from the stamen-bearing flowers to the ovules. The new 

 annual shoots of the pine continue to grow for a second year, 

 if not longer, to contribute to the growths in length as well 

 as thickness. The leaves, being evergreen, absorb throughout 

 the year the carbonic acid from the atmosphere and assimilat- 

 ing the carbon, return to the air pure oxygen. 



The pines are found mainly in cold and temperate regions, 

 and mostly make compact forest growths. In size they range 

 from a few feet to three hundred feet in height. The pines of 

 New Jersey, however, range from low bushes to about seventy 

 feet in height. Owing to deterioration by forest fires, the pine 

 timber in New Jersey is often small and stunted, as in the 

 Jersey or scrub pine, Pinus virginiana or inops. 



Southeastern New Jersey was originally covered with pine, 

 the inferior soil being occupied by pitch pine, Pinus rigida.^"^- 

 The leaves of this species are dark green and grouped in 

 threes. The resinous wood is reddish yellow, covered with 

 rough, blackish bark, and the cones have stout, prickly points. 



The short leaf, or yellow pine, Phms echinata, occupies the 

 better soil, in partnership with various hardwood species. 

 Owing to the prevalence of destructive fires in the pines, but 

 few original forests remain. The most noted of these in 

 Camden County is at Winslow, where the pine is in patches 



* During the Civil War the North was unable to obtain the necessarj' 

 naval stores, for which ship chandlers were willing to pay immense 

 sums. The natives of Southern New Jersey toot advantage of this and 

 collected great quantities of fat pine knots, from which they made tar. 

 This was quite a profitable industry in the vicinity of Tnckerton. An 

 old timer from that section recently described the modus operantli : — A 

 large basin was constrvicted, from which a small trough or channel led 

 into another receptacle, and the whole affair was carefully cemented 

 with a composition of sand, loam and clay. The pine knots were piled 

 in the large basin in a cone-shaped stack and covered with soil, sod, etc., 

 similar to the preparation of a charcoal pit, and then lighted at the top. 

 The tar oozing out passed into the bottom of the basin, thence throiigh 

 the channel into the receiver, from which it was collected. 



