TREES OF AMERICA. 216 



their leather on are ahiiost always made of 

 this wood ; they like it because it is soft, and 

 does not blunt their knives. But its greatest 

 use is for all kinds of ornamental carving. 

 Sugar may be made from the sap, but in very 

 small quantities. I have only to tell you 

 that the American lime abounds in the 

 northern, the white lime in the middle, and 

 the downy lime in the southern sections of the 

 United States. And now we are ready to turn 

 our attention to the long list of the pines, and 

 spruces, and cedars." 



" Uncle Philip, I know that there are a great 

 many different names given to various kinds 

 of pine, and spruce, and hemlock, and fir, and 

 cedar ; and I suppose they are in fact all 

 different kinds of trees : but some of them are 

 so much alike that I should think they might 

 be arranged in classes, like the magnolias and 

 the birches ; could they not, Uncle Philip ?" 



" Yes ; and so they are : all these trees are 

 ever-greens, and they all have some very 

 strong general features of resemblance ; but 

 still they are not all the same kind of trees, 

 and they are divided into three great classes, 

 each including several species ; these are the 

 pines, the spruces, and the cedars : I will first 



