GYMNOSPERMS 219 



important to learn how to obtain white pine with the least 

 possible waste, for the usual methods will soon destroy all 

 of our supply. 



The pine forests of the South, yielding in increasing 

 amount the very valuable timber of the hard wood yellow 

 pines, are very extensive. Chief among these yellow pines 

 is the Georgia pine, being the principal species over an 

 area fifty to one hundred and fifty miles, wide and extend- 

 ing along the coast region from North Carolina to eastern 

 Texas. This great Southern pine region is producing more 

 and more timber as the supply from the Northern white 

 pine is diminishing. 



The coniferous forests mentioned above belong to the 

 general Atlantic region, which extends from the Atlantic 

 Coast to the Mississippi Valley; but there is a Pacific region 

 extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast, 

 all of whose immense forests are conifers. These Western 

 forests are mainly in the mountains, and have been most 

 wastefully treated in cutting for timber, clearing, and per- 

 mitting the ravages of fire. Two famous coniferous trees of 

 California are the redwood and the big tree. The former 

 yields a very valuable lumber, and the latter is the largest 

 American tree. The big trees are found in scattered groves 

 along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, a number of 

 which are carefully preserved. The height of the standing 

 trees reaches 325 feet, but a fallen tree is estimated to have 

 been over 400 feet high. The diameter of the trunk near 

 the ground sometimes reaches 30 to 35 feet. 



129. Resin and turpentine. The conifers in general 

 contain resins, and from certain pines the common resin 

 (or rosin) and turpentine of commerce are obtained. Usu- 

 ally incisions are made into the wood of the trees and a resi- 

 nous liquid exudes, which is crude turpentine. This liquid 

 is distilled, the oil or spirit of turpentine coming off and 

 being collected, and the resin remaining behind in the still. 



