HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES 155 



and many others.) Northern Europe and Asia, 

 Britain. — A well-known species of very variable 

 habit. The young tree is usually formal, the stem 

 straight, and the branches regularly arranged ; but 

 in old age, with the loss of the lower branches and 

 increase in size of those near the top, the tree often 

 presents a decidedly picturesque appearance, which 

 is still further enhanced by the warm cinnamon 

 brown of the bark. In the juvenile specimen the 

 leaves are longer and more silvery in appearance 

 than when the tree becomes advanced in growth. 

 They vary in length from 2 inches to 3 inches, and 

 are arranged two in a sheath. The cones vary 

 greatly in size and shape, but are usually from 

 2 inches to 3 inches long, and i to ij inches at 

 widest part. Both as an ornamental tree and for 

 the value of timber it produces, the Scotch Pine 

 wiU ever rank high with planters. It is, further, 

 of undoubted hardihood, a good shelter-tree, and 

 succeeds w^ell on the thinnest and poorest of sand 

 and gravel. The timber is greatly affected by 

 climate, and that produced in northern Scotland 

 is superior to what is grown either in England or 

 Ireland. 



P. SYLVESTRis ARGENTEA, Steven. The Silver- 

 leaved Scotch Pine. — This varies much in variega- 

 tion, and many specimens have only a tinge of 

 the silvery w^hiteness for w^hich the best variety 

 is so much appreciated. The leaves of the yoimg 

 shoots in particular are creamy white, but this to 

 some extent gives way with the approach of winter. 



P. SYLVESTRIS AUREA. The Goldcn Scotch Pine. 

 — Amongst the many varieties of the Scotch Pine 

 none can equal the present either for free healthy 



