INTEODUCTION. 



The term Coniferse, or cone-bearing trees, is very expressive 

 of the Tribe to which the present Volume relates. 



Regarded from almost every point of view, this Tribe 

 possesses great importance. In the northern regions its 

 members outnumber the common, broad-leaved trees, by 

 about ten to one ; they are most of them distinguished for 

 majesty or symmetrical gracefulness ; and their timber, 

 from its length, straightness, and strength, is most valuable 



in the Arts. 



It is in North America that the most extensive Pine 

 Forests are located ; some of the Pine barrens, as they are 

 there called, being from 300 to 500 miles in extent. Cap- 

 tain Hall states, that while travelling in Georgia, some- 

 times when he came to a high knoll which overlooked the 

 surrounding country, nothing could be seen but a vast 

 ocean of Pines, stretching without a break in every direc- 

 tion as far as the eye could reach. 



Perhaps, however, the most gigantic specimens exist in 

 California, and on the North West Coast, where the dimen- 

 sions of some appear almost fabulous. Among these we 

 may mention more particularly Welhngtonia, Sequoia, and 

 Picea nobilis, all of which grow, in favourable situations, 

 from 200 to 300 feet high. 



