PINE PINE-APPLE. 



563 



of three feet diameter having hardly six inches of 

 heart ; but. notwithstanding, it is even used for 

 ground floors, although the boards, which are only 

 four inches wide, shrink and become uneven. As 

 the timber decays speedily on being exposed to the 

 air, this is to be regarded as one of the least valuable 

 of the pines. 



The long-leaved pine (P. palustris) is, perhaps, 

 the most important of all forest trees. Not only does 

 it furnish resin, tar, pitch, and turpentine, but the 

 timber is hardly inferior to the white oak in naval 

 architecture, and, moreover, the tree grows only in a 

 soil so sterile as to be incapable of being converted 

 to any other use. It is known in commerce under a 

 variety of names ; in those districts where it grows, 

 it is called long leaved pine, yellow pine, pitch pine, 

 and broom pine ; in Britain, Georgia pitch pine. It 

 usually grows to the height of sixty or seventy feet, 

 with a trunk fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter 

 for two-thirds of this height. The cones are very 

 large, seven or eight inches long, by four in diameter, 

 are armed with small spines, and contain seeds of an 

 agreeable flavour. The unusual length of the leaves, 

 about twelve inches, gives this tree a peculiarly 

 striking appearance. The trunk contains but little 

 sap, and the concentrical circles are close and at 

 equal distances, while the resinous matter is abundant 

 and equally distributed, which renders the wood 

 stronger, more compact and more durable than in 

 the other species : it is, besides, fine-grained and 

 susceptible of a brilliant polish, and is applied to a 

 great variety of uses. That variety which acquires 

 a reddish hue from growing in certain soils, and is 

 known by the name of red pine, is most esteemed, 

 and, in the opinion of some shipwrights, is as solid 

 and durable on sides of vessels as the white 

 oak, but is said to form less perfect joints at stem 

 and stern. 



The white pine (P. strobus) is the loftiest tree in 

 the United States of America, and its timber, though 

 not without essential defects, is consumed in much 

 greater quantities, and for a far greater variety of 

 purposes, than any other. It attains the height of 

 150 feet, and even more, with a trunk five and up- 

 wards in diameter : the leaves are united by fives, 

 and the cones are four or five inches long, pendulous, 

 and have thin, smooth scales. Owing to the light- 

 ness and delicacy of the foliage, the young trees make 

 an elegant appearance. It is most abundant between 

 the forty-seventh and forty-third parallels of latitude, 

 and along the Alleghanies to their south-western 

 termination. The wood has little strength, gives a 

 feeble hold to nails, and is liable to swefl from 

 humidity in the atmosphere ; but, on the other hand, 

 it is soft, light, free from knots, easily wrought, 

 durable, and furnishes boards of great width, and, 

 above all, is still abundant and cheap. It receives 

 gilding well, and is selected for looking-glass and 

 picture frames. It is employed for masts, and great 

 numbers of these masts are exported to Britain, and 

 are said to be lighter than the Riga masts, but have 

 less strength : the bowsprits and yards of men-of-war 

 are also of white pine. The persons engaged in 

 procuring white pine lumber, after having previously 

 ascertained where the trees abound, in the beginning 

 of winter enter the forests, and establish themselves 

 in huts covered usually with birch bark, although the 

 cold is frequently most intense. When the trees are 

 felled and cut into logs, by means of their cattle they 

 drag them to the nearest river, after fixing upon them 

 a mark of property. At the breaking up of the ice, 

 the logs float down the current till they arrive at 

 their destination. If stripped of their bark, logs will 

 remain uninjured for many years ; otherwise they are 

 liable to be destroyed by worms. 



The pinusflexilis is remarkable for the flexibility 

 of the branches, which are numerous, recurved, and 

 form a large dense top. The leaves are in fives, like 

 those of the white pine, and the seeds are used for 

 food by the Indians. 



The pilots lambertiana is a species of gigantic size, 

 growing between the fortieth and forty-third parallels 

 of latitude, and about one hundred miles from the 

 Pacific. Like most of the pines, it is found in a 

 sandy soil ; but it does not form dense forests, and 

 is scattered singly over the plains among other species. 

 The trunk rises from 150 to upwards of 200 feet in 

 height, and is from 7 to nearly 20 feet in diameter. 

 It is remarkably straight, and is destitute of branches 

 for two-thirds of its height. The leaves are in fives, 

 and the cones are pendulous at the extremities of the 

 branches, and require two years to attain their full 

 growth, when they are upwards of a foot in length, 

 and nearly four inches in diameter at the thickest part. 

 The timber is white, soft and light, and produces 

 abundance of a pure amber-coloured resin, which, 

 when the trees are partly burned, acquires a sweet 

 taste, and in this state is used by the natives as a 

 substitute for sugar. The seeds are eaten either 

 roasted, or pounded into coarse cakes for use during 

 the winter season. This species resembles most the 

 white pine, but is very different in habit, and in the 

 parts of fructification. 



Among the more interesting of the species is the 

 wild pine or Scots fir of Europe. The trunk attains 

 the height of eighty feet and upwards, by four or 

 five in diameter, and the timber is applied to a great 

 variety of uses, and especially is excellent for masts. 

 These, together with the timber in other forms, are 

 exported from Riga, Memel, Dantzic, and other parts 

 of the north to the other maritime states of Europe, 

 and particularly to Britain. Large vessels, and 

 even frigates, have been constructed of this pine ; 

 but they are not so durable as those built of oak. In 

 those districts where it abounds, houses, as well as 

 furniture, are generally constructed of it, and it 

 furnishes excellent charcoal for forges ; but a more 

 important product is the resinous matter, consisting 

 of tar, pitch and turpentine, of which articles it sup- 

 plies four-fifths of the consumption in the European 

 dock-yards. This pine has, besides, the advantage 

 of growing in extremely different soils and exposures. 

 The name of red, or yellow deal, is given in Britain 

 to its wood, while the wood of the Norway fir (pinus 

 picea) is called white deal. 



The P. maritima grows in the south of Europe, 

 and is useful on account of its yielding resinous pro- 

 ducts and lampblack. 



The stone pine (P. pinca) is a Mediterranean 

 species , chiefly remarkable on account of the seeds, 

 which have an agreeable flavour, analogous to that 

 of almonds, and frequently make their appearance 

 upon the table. They are three years in ripening. 

 The trunk rises to the height of fifty or sixty feet, 

 with a diameter at base of fifteen or twenty inches. 

 The wood is useful for carpenter's work, &c.,a/id, 

 according to Olivier, is the only kind employed by 

 the Turks for masts. 



Pine forests are extremely 'liable to be frequently 

 ravaged by fire ; and from their great combustibility 

 it is extremely difficult to arrest the progress of the 

 flames when once they have gained footing. In 

 some parts of France, the following method is prac- 

 tised with success : If a fire breaks out in the forest, 

 a second is kindled at a point directly opposite, when 

 a current of air sets from the first to the second, 

 which carries the flames to a common centre, leaving 

 the surrounding \\oods uninjured. 



PINE-APPLE (bromelia ananas^. This fruit, 

 usually pronounced the first in the world, was origin- 

 s' N 2 



