1904.] LECTURE. 51 



IMiicliurst. the well known health resort in Nortli Carolina, 

 is built anion*:; pines. Thei'e are three species, one with short 

 leaves growing- in clusters of two, Pinus echinnta, is of wide 

 distribution and found from southern New York to Texas. 

 The other two species are long-leaved and grow in clusters of 

 tliree. The Pinus Ueda lias leaves from six to ten inches 

 long antl with innumerable cones. Pinus palustris is larger 

 and longer leaved, and commercially the most valuable of the 

 three. They grow tall and straight with no low Hmbs and 

 the long dark green leaves form dense tufts at the ends of 

 the branches. 



A fourth species of pine, growing from South Carolina south- 

 ward, is the Cul^an. This so closely resembles the long-leaved, 

 from which formerly it was not distinguished, that it is often 

 cut and sold under that name. 



The largest forests used to be in Georgia, and they have 

 been practically exhausted by tapi)ing the trees for turpentine, 

 and cutting for the lumber market. The government reports 

 state, that in 1S90, there were eighty-eight lumber mills in 

 Georgia sawing exclusively long-leaved pine timber. 



The seedlings of the long-leaved pine look like little tufts 

 of grass and grow but little in height for several years, giving 

 most of their nourishment to the development of a root system, 

 by wdiich they are better prepared to live in soil where the 

 water supply is scanty. 



A plant two years old is not more than one and a half inches 

 high, while the tap-root is often two or three feet long. The 

 slow upw^ard growth continues until the plant is about seven 

 years old and as many inches high, when its period of most 

 vigorous growth begins, and it doubles its height in a year. 



Great quantities of these trees are cut every winter and 

 sent to our northern markets for decoration. The leaves re- 

 main green a long time, and put in flower pots they look like 

 growing plants and are used extensively for church decoration. 



The largest forest of this species to be seen in North Carolina, 

 is known as Ray's Forest and covers an area of 2,300 acres, 

 where formerly it covered about 15,000 square miles. 



