EVERGREENS. 269 



pine forests of New England are of the past, and if 

 the present rate of depletion in the northwest is 

 continued, which it is hoped it will not be, many 

 are living now who will see the last giant fall, and 

 the last immense raft of logs float slowly down the 

 Mississippi. Even now the devastation has reached 

 such a state that the climate of that region is much 

 changed. Where the beech, hickories and pecans 

 grew readily within my memory, they now barely 

 maintain their existence. . 



It is believed that this tree has been of greater 

 value to mankind than any other, and its perpetua- 

 tion in large tracts is the duty of mankind in 

 return. It is readily grown, and over a very wide 

 area, adapting itself to more different soils than 

 any other conifer. 



"Ours is no seedling, chance sowed by the fountain, 



Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; 



When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain, 

 The more shall Clan Alpine exult in thy shade. , 

 Moored in the rifted rock, 

 Proof to the tempest's shock, 

 Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; 

 O that some seedling gem, 

 Worthy such noble stem, 

 Honored and blest in thy shadow might grow." 



Austrian Pine. Is so near like the Scotch, as 

 to be distinguishable only by those habituated to 

 seeing both, when the difference is marked. The 

 branches are heavier and more rigid, and the 

 general expression is more rugged and coarse. 

 The buds are quite different, the former being 

 lighter colored, sometimes so bubescent as to be 



