The Seniors of the Forest 283 



So girdled cone-bearers have been known to ex- 

 ist for forty years. Indeed a pine has " as many 

 lives as a cat." We realize this when we see the 

 pitch-pines at home, in the " turpentine country" 

 of Georgia. Deeply wounded, or even girdled, and 

 all bare save for a tuft or two at the top, they 

 still live, and remind one of Charles the Second 

 who was " such an unconscionable time a-dying. " 



Were it not for these peculiarities of structure, 

 girdled pines would share the fate of girdled-oaks 

 and maples, which seldom survive their injuries for 

 more than three or four years. In these trees the 

 heart-wood, which has retired from active service, 

 can never resume its conductive duties, and there 

 is no balsam which can be converted into sur- 

 geons'-plaster in time of need. 



So the wood which is laid bare dries out more 

 and more, and as soon as the drying has penetrated 

 the outer or vital part of the trunk plant-fluids 

 can no longer move between leaves and roots, cir- 

 culation stops, and the tree dies. 



Though the cross-section of a pine-tree is much 

 like that of an oak, their woody tissues have a 

 different aspect under the microscope. 



The wood of the cone-bearers is almost entirely 

 composed of " tracheids," which are little tubes 



