VIII 



EVERGREENS, OR PINES AND PINE FORESTS. 

 NOVEMBER 



54. The White Pine. Pinus Strobus. 



MATERIAL: Young shoots with staminate and pistillate flowers in 

 sixty per cent alcohol or pressed ; cones at different stages of develop- 

 ment; leafy twigs; bark of stem and wood. Outdoor observations. 

 The white pine has flowers in June. Almost every teacher can pro- 

 cure material of this lesson from Christmas trees. 



We have learned about a number of trees that shed their 

 leaves in fall, and have also learned a little about the forests 

 and groves they form. To-day we shall study a tree which 

 looks very different from an oak, maple, ash, or poplar. 

 These twigs, flowers, and cones grew on the white pine, a 

 tree which has perhaps furnished lumber for more homes in 

 our Northern States than any other tree. In northern Min- 

 nesota, in Wisconsin and Michigan, and in Canada this tree 

 often forms large and dense forests, in which the trees attain 

 a height of one hundred and seventy-five feet and a diameter 

 of ten feet. Tell me how many times as high as our school- 

 house such an old giant tree would be, and how many of 

 them could stand on a space as large as this floor. 



After a similar introduction the teacher should bring out 

 the following points by comparing the white pine with an 

 oak, a poplar, or any other deciduous tree : 



1. Regular mode of branching, which approximately shows 

 the age of young trees. 



Observations. Are there still birds in woods and fields? 

 252 



