332 



PIN 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PIN 



the Larch would measure, one with another, ninety inches in 

 circumference, at six feet from the ground. Such a Larch 

 would measure above seventy at twenty feet from the ground, 

 supposing the length of the tree to be forty feet, neglecting 

 the top ; then will its solid contents be eighty-five cubit feet, 

 and its value, at 9d. a foot, above three guineas. But as the 

 trees are supposed to be planted in a high, bleak, barren 

 situation, their annual increase may not be so great as was 

 there supposed : instead of being worth, at sixty years after 

 planting, three guineas apiece, admit that they are only worth 

 ten shillings, then would the value of the whole plantation 

 be 126,000 ; and deducting the whole expense, there would 

 remain a profit of 114,400. The present value of this, 

 to be received sixty years hence, is above 10,000, interest 

 of money at 4 per cent, and will purchase an income of 

 400 a year. By planting then, a barren estate of 1000 

 acres is improved from 4. 3*. 4d. to 400 a-year, reckoning 

 the value of a reversion as a present certainty : sixty years, 

 it is true, is a great part of the life of man, but it ought 

 to be considered as nothing in the existence of a nation, 

 or even of a family, which is a little nation. All waste 

 lands, that will not do for converting into arable or pas- 

 ture, ought to be covered with wood; the high parts, and 

 especially the sheltered hills in the high parts, with Larch ; 

 and the lower with Oak, Ash, &c. Their present applica- 

 tion to the summer maintenance of a few miserable sheep, 

 ought not to be persevered in, if any better use can be made 

 of them. Notwithstanding the opinion expressed by the 

 learned prelate, it is certain that cattle and sheep will attack 

 these trees, and therefore ought not to be admitted, even 

 after the trees have attained to a considerable size. An effi- 

 cient fence is absolutely necessary for a plantation of Larch, 

 because it is extremely impatient of wounds in its bark. The 

 nature of the fence must be determined by circumstances. 

 A stone wall will be the most common, as the trees should 

 be 'chiefly planted on mountainous tracts, and it is the most 

 effectual, except against light-bodied sheep, which will easily 

 overleap it, unless there be some defence of bushes, or a rail 

 on the top of it. A ditch and bank is by no means an effec- 

 tual fence against sheep, or even against cattle after some 

 time, unless furze be thrown upon the top of the bank ; or 

 in three rows, two of which should be on the slope of the 

 bank, cutting one of the rows close every year, to keep it 

 from becoming open at bottom. When this fence decays, as 

 it will in ten or twelve years, the outer line of Larches being 

 left, will make a fence of themselves, or at least with the 

 assistance of the Sweet Briar or Bramble planted between the 

 trees, and interwoven with their branches, and a rail from 

 tree to tree where it is wanted. To conclude this interesting 

 subject: when we consider the many excellencies of this 

 useful and elegant tree, it must be allowed that it was a greal 

 misfortune to this country that it was not sooner introduced 

 and accurately known, for it is a positive fact, that this alpine 

 plant was about half a century ago treated as a tender exotic, 

 and planted out with the most assiduous care and diligence 

 in our hot-beds and hot-houses ! 



15. Pinus Variabilis ; Two and Three-leaved, or Yellow Pine 

 Tree. Leaves elongated, two and three together, canalicu- 

 late ; strobiles ovate-conical, subsolitary ; aculei of the squames 

 incurved. It is found in most Pine-forests from New Eng- 

 land to Georgia. 



16. Pinus Rigida; the Common Black or Pitch Pine 

 Leaves in threes ; sheaths abbreviated ; male aments erect- 

 incumbent; strobiles ovate; spines of the squames reflex 

 Vast quantities of the timber of this kind are imported into 

 .Great Britain, where it is chiefly used for flooring, being 



very heavy and durable, but extremely brittle. Grows on 

 the plains from New England to Virginia. 



17. Pinus Serotina. Leaves elongate, in threes; male 

 aments erect-incumbent ; strobiles ovate ; aculei of the 

 squames very fine and straight. Found on the edges of 

 ponds and swamps. This and the preceding species ripen 

 their seeds only after the second year. Pursh strongly sus- 

 pects this plant to be merely a variety of the preceding. 

 It is from the authority of Michaux that it is here inserted 

 as a distinct species. 



18.' Pinus Pungens. Leaves in pairs, short, acute; stro- 

 biles ovate-conical; aculei of the squames elongate, subulate, 

 incurved ; inferior ones reflexed. Grows on the Grandfather 

 and Table mountains, Carolina. 



'* Fir. Leaves solitary, and distinct at the Base. 



19. Pinus Picea; Silver Fir Tree. Leaves solitary, flat, 

 emarginate, pectinate ; cones cylindrical, erect, with long 

 pointed scales. This is a noble upright tree. The branches 

 are not very smooth, but the bark is smooth and delicate. 

 The upper surface of the leaves is of a fine strong green, 

 and their under has two white lines running lengthwise on 

 each side of the midrib, giving the leaves a silvery look, 

 from which it takes its name. It has been observed in Ire- 

 land, that no tree grows speedily to so large a size as the 

 Silver Fir; some at forty years' growth, in a wet clay on a 

 rock, measuring twelve feet in circumference at the ground, 

 and seven feet and a half at five feet high ; and one containing 

 seventy-six feet of solid timber. It is found to be excellent for 

 boat-building. A gentleman in Hampshire floored his library 

 with this wood when fresh cut down, and the boards did not 

 contract in the least. Native of Switzerland and Germany, 

 Dauphiny, Austria, Siberia, Mount Caucasus, &c. Propaga- 

 tion and Culture. The Firs are propagated by seeds, in the 

 same manner as the Pines. A gentle heat will serve to extract 

 the seeds of these, because their cones open much easier than 

 those of the Pines, especially the Silver and Balm of Gilead 

 Firs, which, if permitted to hang late in the autumn, fall to 

 pieces and scatter their seeds. It is best, however, to pre- 

 serve the seed in the cones till the time of sowing, which is 

 the end of March or beginning of April, in a north or north- 

 east border; covering the seeds about half an inch deep 

 with the same light mould in which they were sown, and 

 netting the beds to keep off the birds. In these beds the 

 plants should remain until the following spring, when there 

 should be a number of beds prepared in the nursery to receive 

 the seedlings. In the beginning of April they should be 

 transplanted into the beds, at the distance of six inches row 

 from row, and in the rows at three inches asunder, setting 

 them in a quincunx order. In removing these plants, they 

 should be very carefully raised up with a trowel, so as not 

 to break off the fibres of the roots, nor should they be kept 

 long out of the grownd. During the time they are out, their 

 roots should be covered, to prevent the wind from drying 

 their fibres ; and in planting, the earth should be pressed 

 close to their roots to prevent the air from penetrating to 

 them. If the season prove dry, it will be proper to water the 

 plants every week once or twice, according to the warmth of 

 the weather ; the beds should also be covered with mats, to 

 screen the plants from the sun and drying winds, until they 

 have taken good root; after which time they will require 

 little farther care than to keep them clean from weeds. In 

 these beds the plants may remain two years, at the end of 

 which they should be transplanted into an open spot of 

 ground, for their roots will in that time meet quite over the 

 beds. This ground to which they are to be removed, should 

 be well trenched, and cleared from all noxious weeds, and 



