USES OF COMMERCIAL WOODS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

 II. PHSTES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Thirty-seven species of pine grow in the United States, no one 

 species in all the States, yet, with perhaps one exception, no State 

 is without one or more. Some, as the loblolly pine of the South, the 

 white pine of the North and East, and the western yellow pine, oc- 

 cupy large regions in considerable abundance, while others, as the 

 Apache pine of the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona, the Torrey 

 pine along the Soledad Kiver in California, and the sand pine near 

 the Gulf coast of Florida and Mississippi, are so scarce that few 

 persons ever see and recognize them. Yet no species of pine is so 

 scarce that it is not made in some way to serve man's needs. 



About 48 per cent of the total lumber output for the United States 

 in 1908 was pine. The longleaf probably furnished more than any 

 other single species, and white pine was next. The western yellow 

 pine, which is more widely distributed than any other pine of this 

 country, is a large producer of lumber, and the western white pine 

 and the loblolly also rank high in quantity. This bulletin considers 

 each species separately. The places which some species occupy are 

 very humble, and they can never rise much in the scale of usefulness, 

 yet each one is entitled to its own individuality. 



Four important timber trees of the southeastern United States 

 are usually grouped as one in the lumber market, and are sold under 

 the common name of yellow pine. They are the longleaf pine, short- 

 leaf pine, loblolly pine, and Cuban pine. In appearance the woods 

 of these four trees are so nearly alike that it is sometimes difficult to 

 distinguish one from the other; yet in some particulars there is con- 

 siderable difference. This is often seen in the growth rings. Long- 

 leaf annual rings are usually narrow, shortleaf wide near the heart, 

 followed by a zone of narrower rings, while loblolly's rings are 

 generally very wide. The Cuban pine also has wide rings. The 

 proportion of sapwood to heart is usually different in the four 

 species. Longleaf pine over a foot in diameter, breast high, rarely 

 has sapwood over 2 or 3 inches broad; shortleaf sapwood in trees of 

 like size usually measures 4 inches, while loblolly often runs from 



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