378 PINUS STROBUS. 



var. nana. 



A small, compact, bushy shrub with short slender branches and 

 numerous branchlets. The leaves are shorter than those of the species, 

 and densely clustered at the extremities of the branchlets. 



Other varieties named respectively aurea, compada, fastigiata, nivea, 

 pumila, variegata and viridis, have been in cultivation, but are now rarely, 

 if ever, met with in British gardens. 



The greater part of the area of distribution of P-inus Strobus on 

 the North American continent lies between the 40th and 50th 

 parallels of north latitude. From Newfoundland, where it is common, 

 it spreads westwards along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence 

 and the great lakes to Lake Nepigon and the River Winnipeg, and 

 through the northern States to Illinois and Iowa. South of 

 the 40th parallel it follows chiefly the trend of the Alleghany 

 mountains through eastern Kentucky and Tennessee into Georgia. 

 It attains its largest size in the valley of the St. Lawrence and 

 adjacent New England States ; both at its northern and southern 

 limits it is a smaller tree, less valuable and less abundant. 



Pinus Strobus is one of the most important of the North American 

 timber trees, and great numbers are felled every year and sent to Europe 

 under the name of White Pine. It is still abundant in parts of the 

 New England States and Canada, although rapidly diminishing in 

 quantity in consequence of the great demand for its timber ; with the 

 view of counteracting the diminishing supply, successful attempts to 

 cultivate it on a large scale have been already made in the northern 

 States, which may lead to further operations of the same kind. So 

 highly is the White Pine held in estimation in New England, that it 

 was made the central figure 011 the seal and arms of the State of Maine; 

 it is also one of the most valuable trees of Canada and forms an 

 important article of its commerce, and as such finds its way into every 

 carpentering establishment in Great Britain. The wood is light, soft, 

 straight-grained, but not strong, easily worked and susceptible of receiving 

 a beautiful polish.* 



The White Pine was first cultivated in Great Britain by the Duchess 

 of Beaufort at Badminton in 1705, and shortly afterwards great numbers 

 were planted by Lord Weymouth on his estate at Longleat in Wiltshire 

 whence this species received the name of Weymouth Pine. The 

 Longleat plantations succeeded so satisfactorily that seeds were 

 subsequently distributed among nurserymen and others throughout the 

 country. The principal use of Pinus Strobus in this country is for the 

 decoration of the park and landscape, for mixing with other trees in the 

 formation of belts and screens, and occasionally for forestial purposes ; its 

 rate of growth in ordinary soils is from 12 to 15 feet' in ten years. 

 The timber of British-grown Weymouth Pine is reported satisfactory but 

 less valuable than that received from America, a circumstance doubtless 

 due to climatic causes. 



In the north-eastern States of America Pinus Strobus is the best of all 

 Pines for ornamental planting, "impervious to the cold of the Canadian 



* Silva of North America, XL 19. 



