334 



PIN 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



P IN 



but the plants will also rise much stronger, and consequently 

 be in less danger of rotting in their shanks. And as the 

 warmth of the bed is only to bring up the plants, so there 

 should be but little dung employed in making it; for after 

 the plants are up, they must be inured to the open air, and 

 treated as hardily as the common sorts. There may be 

 others, perhaps, who will object to the directions given for 

 sowing the seeds in such small pots, because where there is 

 any quantity of the seeds, it is usual to sow them in boxes, or 

 large pots: but most sorts succeed better in small pots. 



20. Pinus Balsamea ; Balm of Gilead Fir Tree. Leaves 

 solitary, flat, emarginate, subpectinate, almost upright above; 

 scales of the cone when in flower acuminate, reflex. This 

 beautiful tree rises with an upright stem, and has very much 

 the habit of the preceding, but the leaves are wider and 

 blunter, disposed on each side along the branches like the 

 teeth of the comb, but in a double row, the upper one shorter 

 than the under ; underneath they are marked with a double 

 glaucous line, and each has eight rows of white dots ; they 

 are often cloven at top. From wounds made in this tree a 

 very fine turpentine is obtained, which is sometimes sold for 

 the true Balm of Gilead. It has long been cultivated in 

 England, for curiosity; but in general, though it grows to a 

 considerable height, it seldom survives above twenty years. 

 Native of Canada, Nova Scotia, &c. flowering in May. 

 This, and the Hemlock Spruce tree, should have the beds 

 hooped over, to be covered with mats, for five or six weeks 

 after the plants appear above ground ; when the sun is hot, 

 or the air cold and frosty, they should be watered every 

 second evening, when it does not rain. This tree requires 

 a good deep soil, and a sheltered situation. See the pre- 

 ceding and the next species. 



21. Pinus Canadensis ; Hemlock Spruce Fir Tree. Leaves 

 solitary, flat, submembranaceous, sharpish, pectinate ; cones 

 ovate, scarcely longer than the leaf. A very elegant tree, 

 growing in some situations to an extraordinary size : its bark 

 is a good substitute for Oak-bark in tanning. Native of the 

 most northern parts of Canada, and on the highest moun- 

 tains, as far as South Carolina ; flowering in May. The 

 seeds of this species have sometimes remained four or five 

 months, or even a whole year, in the ground, and then come 

 up very well; this caution, therefore, may prevent the pots 

 from being too hastily turned out. The plants of this, and 

 of the preceding species, must be afterwards treated in the 

 same way as the common sorts, with this difference only, 

 that they ought to be transplanted into a more shady situa- 

 tion, and moister soil. For while the plants are young, 

 they will not thrive if much exposed to the sun, or in a dry 

 soil, but when they have obtained strength they will bear the 

 open sun very well, and in a moist soil will make great pro- 

 gress ; whereas in dry ground they frequently stint, and pro- 

 duce plenty of male flowers and cones, by the time they get 

 to the height of four or five feet. When the branches of these 

 stems are cut off to trim them up, it should be gradually 

 done, never cutting more than one tier of branches in one 

 year ; for if too many wounds are made at the same time on 

 these resinous trees, the turpentine will issue out in such 

 quantities as to weaken and check their growth. The best 

 time for pruning them is in September, at which time they 

 do not abound so much in turpentine as in the spring, and 

 consequently do not bleed so much after pruning. What 

 flows out at that season is seldom more than is necessary for 

 covering the wounds, and to prevent the wet and cold of the 

 succeeding winter from penetrating the wounded parts. These 

 branches should be cut close to the trunk. See the nineteenth 

 species for further directions. 



22. Pinus Nigra; Black Spruce Fir Tree. Leaves solitary, 

 four-cornered, scattered all round, straight, strict; cones 

 oblong. There is another, called the White Spruce Fir. The 

 appellations of White and Black are given on account of the 

 colour of the bark. There is also a Red Spruce, between 

 which and the Black there seems to be no real diflferencey 

 except that the Black is the largest. They all exude a fine 

 clear strong-scented resin, which is much used by the Ame- 

 rican Indians, to cure wounds and internal disorders. Their 

 young branches are indiscriminately used in making Spruce 

 Beer. Native of various parts of North America, &c. 



23. Pinus Abies ; Norway Spruce Fir Tree. Leaves soli- 

 tary, somewhat four-cornered, sharpish, distich ; branches 

 naked below ; cones cylindrical. This is the loftiest of our 

 European species, attaining to the amazing height of 125 

 and 150 feet, with a very straight trunk, and throwing out its 

 spreading branches so as to form an elegant pyramid. The 

 vast woods of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, &c. are prin- 

 cipally composed of this, and of the first species of this genus. 

 This tree is called Norway Spruce, because we import its 

 timber chiefly from that country. There are two principal 

 varieties of it, the White and Red, but both afford the white 

 deals : the red deals are those cut from the trees of the first 

 species. Rosin is collected to the quantity of forty pounds 

 annually from each tree. This Fir, and that of the Pinus 

 Sylvestris, was formerly used for building ships, and is still 

 employed for masts, and some other parts, but seldom for 

 the entire vessel, except in small craft : its great consumption 

 now among us is for the interior work of our houses, as beams, 

 joists, rafters, spars, floors, wainscot, doors ; and scaffold 

 poles, balks, laths, boxes, and bellies for musical instru- 

 ments, are also made of Fir. It is exceedingly smooth to 

 polish on, and therefore does well under gilding work ; it 

 also takes black equal with the Pear Tree. It succeeds well 

 in carving, the grain being easy to work, and taking the tool 

 every way. No wood takes glue so well, or is so easily 

 wrought; cases and barrels for dry goods, shingles, hoops, 

 &c. are made of it ; and it yields pitch, tar, turpentine, and 

 resin ; while from the buds and tops the Spruce beer, ac- 

 counted so excellent in the scurvy, is made. No tree will 

 yield a greater profit in cold land, nor is any more beautiful, 

 standing singly on turf in large plantations, or more useful 

 for shelter in cold soils and situations. An incision being 

 made into the bark of this tree, a clear tenacious fluid issues, 

 which concretes into a resinous substance, known by the name 

 of Resina Abietis, which, after being boiled in water, and 

 strained through a linen cloth, is called Burgundy Pitch. 

 If, however, the boiling of the native resin be continued till 

 the water is wholly evaporated, and wine vinegar be then 

 added, a substance named Colophonium is formed. Burgundy 

 Pitch, which is chiefly imported from Saxony, is of a solid 

 consistence, but rather soft, of a reddish-brown colour, and 

 not disagreeable in smell. It is entirely confined to external 

 use, and was formerly an ingredient in several ointments and 

 plasters. In inveterate coughs, affections of the lungs, and 

 other internal complaints, plasters of this resin, by acting 

 as a topical stimulus, are often beneficial. This tree grows 

 in the deep strong soils of Norway and Denmark, and will 

 also grow in almost any soil and situation in England, pro- 

 vided it be not within the reach of the smoke of great cities, 

 which is very injurious to all sorts of Firs, which do not ever 

 thrive so well in dunged land as in fresh uncultivated soils. 

 They have been brought into disrepute by being brought too 

 close together, or too near other trees, whereby the air has 

 been excluded from their branches, which has occasioned 

 most of their under branches to decay ; so that when viewed 



