PINE. 



(Pinus.) 



( Pine trees afford woods that have been more used in carpen- 

 try and construction than any others. They are to the soft 

 woods what the oaks are to the hard woods, and they stand, ai 

 present, with reference to all woods much as iron does to all 

 metals. Fine is prized because of a combination of strength, 

 elasticity, light weight, working qualities, and, until recently, 

 wide spread availability, such as fits it for those constructions re-* 

 quiring the largest quantities of woods. Supplies are diminish- 

 ing and some pines are already practically unattainable in many 

 places. Pines are separated into soft-pines and hard-pines. | 



The pines have smooth, straight, solid trunks, usually 

 destitute of branches for many feet from the ground. There 

 are needle-shaped, more or less cylindrical, evergreen leaves 

 from one to many inches in length, gathered in clusters of 

 two, three, or five, their number and the fact that they are 

 thus clustered being important bases of classification. There 

 are also cones of woody overlapping scales. Pines reproduce 

 with difficulty,* and mature so slowly that ultimate survival of 

 modern conditions must probably be as cultivated trees. 



Thirty-nine of the seventy known species of pine are found 

 in the United States. These with their woods are separated 

 into two groups known as hard and soft pines. The Dantzic 

 or Northern pine (Pinus sylvestris) is the principal European 

 species. 



* The roots of most species die with cutting of trees. There is no power of 

 producing new shoots. (The pitch pine (Pinus rigida) is an exception to this rule.) 

 Seeds also have short-lived vitality. Trees are easily raised from fresh seeds. 



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