26 USES OF COMMERCIAL WOODS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



It seems probable that the Cuban pine will hold an important place 

 in the future supply of naval stores. Its ample yield, the compara- 

 tively short period required for trees to attain the necessary size, 

 and the vigor with which they spread to new ground and maintain 

 their hold upon it, indicate that the species will figure prominently 

 in future operations in the South. 



POND PINE (Pinus serotina). 

 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. 



Dry weight of wood. 49.5 pounds per cubic foot (Sargent). 



Specific gravity. 0.79 (Sargent). 



Ash. 0.17 per cent of dry weight of wood (Sargent). 



Fuel value. 107 per cent that of white oak (Sargent). 



Breaking strength (modulus of rupture). 16,300 pounds per square inch, or 

 101 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Factor of stiffness (modulus of elasticity). 1,670,000 pounds per square 

 inch, or 79 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Character and qualities. Very heavy, strong, brittle, coarse grained, com- 

 pact ; summerwood broad, forming fully one-half the annual ring ; very resin- 

 ous; dark colored, conspicuous; resin passages few, large; medullary rays nu- 

 merous, obscure; color, dark orange, the thick sapwood pale yellow. 



Growth. Diameter, 18 to 27 inches, in typical stands, but the trees are fre- 

 quently small ; height, 35 to 75 feet in typical stands. 



SUPPLY. 



This tree is often called marsh pine by lumbermen, and is also 

 known as meadow pine, loblolly pine, spruce pine, bastard pine, and 

 bull pine. Its range is restricted to the region near the coast, from 

 Albemarle Sound in North Carolina to the head of St. Johns River, 

 Fla. It appears also on the west coast of Florida, and ranges near 

 the coast westward to the vicinity of Pensacola. Estimates of quan- 

 tity place it much below the pines with which it is associated, which 

 are longleaf, loblolly, and Cuban. Pure, dense stands of small area 

 are frequently found, but it also grows with other species on low, 

 poorly drained soils. Sometimes it takes possession of ground so 

 poor and damp that other trees compete with it feebly or not at all. 

 It does not invade the dry, sandy tracts where longleaf pine flour- 

 ishes. It is a waste-place tree, and contents itself with sandy, wet 

 tracts where it is comparatively free from crowding. In late years, 

 however, it has shown a tendency to extend its range. It is usually 

 looked upon as an abundant seeder, but careful observation modifies 

 this view. Trees are generally full of cones, but the crops of several 

 years hang to the branches, and the actual quantity of seeds dis- 

 persed in a single season is much smaller than the abundance of 

 cones would indicate. The seeds are small and their wings are of 

 ample size to carry them considerable distances, for which reason 



