THE PINE. 



263 



Northern Pitch Pine. Needles at A, 

 cone and prickled scale at B, mag- 

 nified needle at C. 



scragged branches and coarse-scaled, dark, brown- 

 gray bark. Its wood is hard, pitchy, and of no value 

 except for fuel. My 

 drawing of the magnified 

 needle will show some- 

 thing of the rough char- 

 acter which marks every 

 detail of the tree. The 

 edge of the needle is 

 toothed like a saw, but 

 the surface is daintily 

 marked by rows of fine 

 white dots. Sometimes Nature's roughness under 

 the microscope resolves itself into extreme delicacy. 



The Northern pitch pine grows from Maine to 

 northern Georgia, western New York, and eastern 

 Kentucky. It is common in sandy barrens, and is 

 sometimes found in swamps. 



Scotch Pine. The Scotch pine, also called (but 

 Pinus sylvestris. wrongly) Scotch fir, is the common 

 pine of northern Europe. It has been introduced 

 into this country so extensively that few parks or 

 private grounds are without at least one specimen. 

 The color of this pine is a study for an artist. In 

 many specimens it is a most beautiful light sage- 

 green, and in others it is bluish sage-green. Consid- 

 ering the interest attached to tree colors, and the con- 



