LODGEPOLE PINE. 69 



frames, and stair work. It is made into carvers' and cutters' boards, 

 wash trays, and bakers' troughs. Its freedom from odor fits it for 

 druggists' drawers and for the compartments in which grocers 

 keep spice, coffee, tea, rice, and other provisions. The wood's straight 

 grain qualifies it for service as pipes in church organs. Compara- 

 tively few woods are satisfactory for this purpose. Among the others 

 are white pine and white cedar. 



The claim has been made for sugar pine that it is preferable to 

 white pine for doors and sliding sash because it shrinks and swells 

 less, and holds its shape better. Boat builders hold that its behavior 

 in salt water is equal to that of the best woods. 



This tree is named from a product resembling sugar that forms 

 where trunks have been injured by fire or otherwise. The prin- 

 ciple is known as " pinite," and has been called "American false 

 manna." It is believed to possess medicinal value. The claim that 

 it is used to any large extent as a substitute for sugar is not well 

 founded, since it possesses properties unfitting it for such use. 



The seeds of sugar pine are about the size of peas, and are said 

 to be the finest in flavor of all edible pine nuts. Their small size 

 and their comparative scarcity make the gathering of them too 

 tedious for anyone whose time is valuable, though Indians sometimes 

 do it. The Douglas squirrel, however, is the greatest gatherer of 

 sugar pine seeds, and in some localities his industry leaves few for 

 other uses. 



LODGEPOLE PINE (Pinus contorta). 



PHYSICAL, PROPERTIES. 



Weight of dry wood. 25.5 pounds per cubic foot (Sargent). 



Specific gravity. 0.41 (Sargent). 



Ash. 0.32 per cent of dry weight of wood (Sargent). 



Fuel value. 55 per cent that of white oak (Sargent). 



Breaking strength (modulus of rupture). 7,890 pounds per square inch, or 

 49 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Factor of stiffness (modulus of elasticity). 1.099.000 pounds per square inch, 

 or 52 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Character and qualities. Light, soft, not strong; grain fine, usually straight 

 but sometimes twisted, annual rings usually narrow on account of the slow 

 growth; summerwood narrow, not conspicuous, resin passages few, not large; 

 medullary rays prominent, broad, numerous ; color light yellow or nearly white, 

 the thick sapwood often indistinguishable; easily worked because of evenness 

 of texture, but too knotty to afford a large percentage of clear wood; not 

 durable but readily receives preservative treatment. 



Growth. Height, 50 to 100 feet; diameter, 1* to 3 feet. 



SUPPLY. 



The commercial range of lodgepole pine covers parts of Alaska, 

 Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 



