2628 



PINE 



PINE 



pine, 2 feet in length, and the hooked, ponderous cones 

 of P. Torreyana and P. Sabiniana, may also influence 

 choice of material. 



With wide range of distribution and hence adaptive- 

 ness as far as climate is concerned, we have the short- 

 leaf pine (P. echinata), which is found from Massa- 

 chusetts to Texas, and in the West the bull pine (P. 

 ponderosa), which ranges from the moist Pacific Coast 

 in Washington to the dry slopes of Arizona. In Europe, 

 the Scotch pine comes nearest to such wide distribution. 

 Besides the native northern species, there have been 

 found hardy in the northeastern states the Scotch and 

 Austrian pines, P. Bungeana, P. Cembra, P. koraiensis, 

 P. montana, P. Thunbergii, while the Mexican pines 

 and those of southern Asia will endure only the light 

 frosts of the southern states. Yet in the parks of 

 Washington, D. C., the following pines are to be found: 

 P. Strobus, P. Cembra, P. excelsa, P. Lambertiana, P. 

 Ayacahuite, P. koraiensis, P. palustris, P. Tseda, P. 

 ponderosa, P. rigida, P. nigra, P. glabra, P. virginiana, 

 P. echinata, P. montana, P. Pinaster, P. edulis, P. 

 pungens, P. sylvestris, P. Massoniana; and the prob- 

 ability is that most of the other species could find 

 a place there to live if not to thrive. 



The list of species hardy in the Arnold Arboretum 

 (Boston) comprises the following: 



1. Thriving well. 



Banksiana. 



Bungeana. 



Cembra. 



densiflora. 



echinata. 



Jeffreyi. 



koraiensis. 



Lambertiana. 



montana. 



monticola. 



nigra. 



parviflora. 



Peuce. 



pungens. 



resmosa. 



rigida. 



Strobus. 



sylvestris. 



Thunbergii. 



virginiana. 



P. excelsa and P. ponderosa pendula thrive well in a 

 sheltered place, but are probably not quite hardy here. 



2. Hardy, but not of promising growth. 



arista ta. 



contorta var. Murrayana. 



edulis. 



flfxilis. 

 monophylla. 



In the interior middle states the number which would 

 stand the extremes of drought and cold would probably 

 be reduced; a partial list found in the Missouri Botani- 

 cal Garden is given below: 



The best are given first. All of the later ones on the 

 list die out sooner or later, as the city smoke is very 

 detrimental to conifers. None does very well on that 

 account. 



Mughus (Pumilio). ) 

 austriaca. f best three. 



Strobus. ) 



Cembra. 

 rigida. 



virginiana. 



resmosa. 



nigra. 



sylvestris. 



ponderosa. 



For seaside planting, P. rigida has shown itself most 

 fit, and of foreigners'in proper climate, P. Pinaster and 

 P. halepensis, while P. contorta on the northwest coast 

 and the frugal P. radiata on the southwest coast are 

 the seacoast trees par excellence. 



The pines are essentially inhabitants of the poor 

 sandy soils and dry situations, their stout root-system 

 enabling them to seek the scanty water-supplies where 

 other species find it difficult. Some, like the white pine, 

 are adapted to a variety of soil conditions, but only a 

 few can endure a surplus of water: P. resinosa will fol- 

 low the white cedar into the swamp and thrive there as 

 well as with the Banksian pine on the poorest gravels; 

 P. rigida is at home both in wet and dry places; the 

 Scotch pine of the Baltic sand plains may be found in 

 the peat-bogs, but only eking out a miserable existence, 

 while P. T&da, the old field pine, makes magnificent 

 trees in the southern swamp, and with its slow growth 

 under such conditions an excellent timber. P. con- 

 torta and P. serotina also are indifferent to water con- 

 ditions at the root; so is the Cuban pine, but P. palus- 



tris belies its name, for it is only very rarely found in 

 poorly drained places and does not thrive there. 



The propagation of pines does not offer any difficul- 

 ties. The seed usually has a high germination percen- 

 tage in most species if kept dry and cool, and it retains 

 vitality for several years, deteriorating of course some- 

 what from year to year. To avoid deterioration in 

 transoceanic shipments, packing in charcoal dust has 

 been found very serviceable. While most of the pine 

 seeds sprout readily, the white pine, with some others, 

 has the bad habit of lying over for one year in part, 

 unless treated to a hot-water bath for twenty-four 

 hours before so whig; or perhaps by sowing in autumn 

 immediately after coming out of the cone, which is 

 during the first two weeks of September. The seeds 

 should be sown hi light mold early, rather thinly to 

 permit a good root-system to develop, covering them 

 thinly according to size of seed, not over % inch, which 

 is best done by sifting sand over the seed with a sieve. 

 During the first year special care is necessary to regu- 

 late the water-supply and transpiration for the young 

 seedlings; they need to be kept humid, not wet, but 

 resent drought as much as a surfeit; and especially 

 sudden changes from drought to wet are likely to pro- 

 duce "damping-off." To prevent too rapid transpira- 

 tion, the familiar lath screens should be applied. 



To prevent the formation of excessively long tap- 

 roots which some species form, mechanical means 

 may be adopted; but the best plan is to manure 

 near the surface, so that fibrous roots will be formed. 

 Such manure consists of one-third steamed bone-meal 

 and two-thirds ammonia superphosphate. Root- 

 pruning and transplanting in nursery rows when one or 

 two years old is practised to secure a stocky root-system. 

 In Germany one-year-old Scotch pines are planted by 

 the million for forest purposes, but for ornamental 

 purposes older plants are to be used; yet it is safest not 

 to use them older than three or four years for permanent 

 situations. In the third year usually the first branching 

 occurs, indicating that the root-system is now well 

 established. 



In transplanting, the utmost care must be taken not 

 to expose the roots to drying influences, a thin loam 

 puddle answering best to keep them moist. While trans- 

 planting can be done at any tune of the year, it is 

 safest to do so in early spring, except when a droughty 

 season is likely to follow, hi which case fall planting 

 is to be preferred. 



A large number of nurserymen's varieties, dwarf and 

 pendulous, varicolored, and the like, have been devel- 

 oped, especially from P. sylvestris and P. Strobus. The 

 most interesting freaks perhaps are those bushy forms 

 "derived from P. canariensis and P. Pinea produced by 

 layering, in which single needles instead of the usual 

 bundles of two in one sheath are produced, imitating 

 the primary single needles of seedlings. The manner in 

 which nurserymen's varieties are propagated by grafts 

 or cuttings is discussed under Pinus. 



According to the nature of the pines, if there is choice 

 of location possible, the well-drained situations, even 

 dry ones, should be reserved for them. They belong, 

 with few exceptions, to the hilltops not the bottoms, to 

 the sands not clay soils, and will stand southern 

 exposures better than the spruces. 



Pines are frugal by nature, and can stand poverty 

 better than surfeit, nevertheless they respond best to 

 medium conditions, namely, a mellow surface and well- 

 drained deep loamy sand, not too rich in organic 

 matter and loose enough to permit the natural develop- 

 ment of the heavy tap-root system. Under such 

 conditions, the peculiar rich foliage gives most satis- 

 faction and the rank luxuriant growth which leads to 

 poor form is checked; disease from fungi is obviated; 

 the cottony scale (almost the only enemy of the white 

 pine) is more readily fought, and injuries from cater- 

 pillars and beetles are more easily repaired. Lately, 



