LIST OF FOREST-TREES. 



123 



The stone pine is more celebrated for 

 its seed, which is eaten as a fruit, than 

 for the value of its timber. In Italy 

 and the South of France the seed is 

 served up in the dessert ; and according 

 to Sir George Staunton it is known 

 and relished by the Chinese. It is a 

 handsome tree. 



The hooked pine, Pinus uncindta, is re- 

 markable for the very high elevation 

 of the site on which it will grow, men- 

 tioned at page 44. Those other pines 

 belonging to this group, enumerated 

 below, are all more or less interesting 

 and deserving of notice; but as the 

 facts relative to the comparative value 

 of their timber are not yet sufficiently 

 numerous to lead to satisfactory con- 

 clusions, we must necessarily omit 

 any further mention of them here. 

 The frankincense, Virginian, or pitch, 

 swamp, and pond pines are all natives 

 of North America. The most va- 

 luable of these in their native climate 

 appears to be the swamp, or long- 

 leaved pine, as Michaux terms it. He 

 remarks, that its mean height is from 

 sixty to seventy feet, with a diameter 

 of fifteen or eighteen inches for three- 

 fourths of its length. The timber of 

 the swamp pine is extensively used in 

 the Floridas, Georgia, and the Caro- 

 linas. It has not yet exhibited any 

 merits as a forest-tree in the climate 

 of Britain. 



The Weymouth pine is of very quick 

 growth in sheltered situations, and 

 moderately moist sandy soils ; but 

 the timber is of a very inferior quality. 

 It is extensively used in America, un- 

 der the name of white pine ; it is 

 considered to have little strength, and 

 affording but a feeble hold to nails. 

 It is stated to reach the height of one 

 hundred and fifty feet, and five in 

 diameter.* It was cultivated in 1705, 

 by the Duchess of Beaufort. 



The Siberian stone or Cembra pine, is a 

 highly ornamental species in England ; 

 but its merits for timber have not 

 been satisfactorily determined. It 

 abounds in the Tyrol, where the wood 



* The quantity of timber of this species of pine 

 which passed down the Sorel for Quebec, between 

 the 1st of May, 1807, and the 30th of July follow- 

 ing, was 132,720 cubic feet of square wood, 160,000 

 of common boards, 67,000 feet of planks two inches 

 thick, 20 masts, and 4545 logs. It is brought to 

 the market of New Orleans from a distance of 

 2900 miles. At Liverpool, in 1808, the cubic foot 

 was 60 cents, and planks of two inches by twelve 

 four cents a foot. N. A. Sylva, yol, iii. p. 17i. 



is preferred to common deal for floor- 

 ing, wainscoting, and other kinds of 

 joiner's work. It appears to have 

 been confounded with the Pinus pyg- 

 mcea, but the species are very distinct. 



The Pinus Lambertiana was introduced 

 in 1827, by Mr. Douglas, collector to 

 the Horticultural Society of London. 

 In its native soil, the north-west 

 coast of America, it appears to be a 

 tree of gigantic growth, and of great 

 longevity. See (*) P- 70. 



We come now to consider the last group 

 or section of the pine tribe, or those 

 with leaves disposed in tufts or little 

 bundles surrounding a bud. The 

 first and most valuable of these is the 

 common larch. Scarcely any species 

 of forest-tree has received so much 

 attention and favour from planters, 

 in a given series of years, as this tree ; 

 and our space will not allow of the 

 simple mention of the names of the 

 numerous eminent individuals, who 

 have put its real and assumed merits 

 to the test of trial, much less enable 

 us to detail the various facts and opi- 

 nions brought forward on the subject. 

 Its merits are stated to have been 

 known so early as the time of Julius 

 Caesar, who calls it lignum igni im- 

 penetrabile* It is a native of the 

 South of Europe and of Siberia, in- 

 habiting the sides of the mountains, 

 in the local hollows of which it attains 

 to the largest dimensions. The first 

 mention of its culture in England is 

 given in Parkinson's Paradisus in 

 1629 ; and Evelyn, in 1664, mentions 

 a larch tree of good stature at C helms- 

 ford, in Essex. It further appears to 

 have been introduced into Scotland 

 in 1734 by Lord Kames. But the 

 merit of making known its valuable 

 properties as a timber tree for the cli- 

 mate of Britain, appears to be due to 

 the Duke of Athol, who planted it 

 atDunkeld in 1741. The rapid growth 

 of these and of other trees of the same 

 species planted successively by that 

 nobleman, and the valuable properties 

 of the timber of such as were felled, 

 realized the high character previously 

 bestowed upon it by foreign and 

 British authors, who were followed by 

 others, such as Doctor Anderson, 

 Watson, Bishop of Landaff, Marshall, 

 Professor Martyn, Nicol, Ponty, Sang, 



* Harte'a Essays, Professor Martyn in Will. 

 Gard, Diet. 



