20 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



development in certain large regions before lumbering began, and in 

 others it was scarce or totally wanting. Its ability to maintain itself 

 on land too thin for vigorous hardwood growth gave it a monopoly of 

 enormous stretches of sandy country, particularly in the Lake States. It 

 occupied large areas in New England and southern Canada; developed 

 splendid stands hi New York and Pennsylvania ; and it covered certain 

 mountains and uplands southward along the mountain ranges across 

 Maryland, West Virginia, and the elevated regions two or three hundred 

 miles farther south. 



A dozen or more varieties of white pine have been developed under 

 cultivation, but they interest the nurseryman, not the lumberman. 

 In all the wide extension of its range, and during all past time, nature 

 was never able to develop a single variety of white pine which departed 

 from the typical species. For that reason it is one of the most interesting 

 objects of study in the tree kingdom. True, the white pine in the south- 

 ern mountains differs slightly from the northern tree, but botanically it 

 is the same. Its wood is a little heavier, its branches are more resinous 

 and consequently adhere a longer time to the trunk after they die, 

 resulting hi lumber with more knots. The southern wood is more 

 tinged with red, the knots are redder and usually sounder than hi the 

 North. 



It is unfortunately necessary in speaking of white pine forests to 

 use the past tense, for most of the primeval stands have disappeared. 

 The range is as extensive as ever, because wherever a forest once grew, 

 a few trees remain; but the merchantable timber has been cut in most 

 regions. The tree bears winged seeds which quickly scatter over vacant 

 spaces, and new growth would long ago, in most cases, have taken the 

 place of the old, had not fires persistently destroyed the seedlings. In 

 parts of New England where fire protection is afforded, dense stands of 

 white pine are coming on, and in numerous instances profitable lumber 

 operations are carried on hi second growth forests. That condition 

 does not exist generally in white pine regions. Primeval stands were 

 seldom absolutely pure, but sometimes, in bodies of thousands of acres, 

 there was little but white pine. Generally hardwoods or other soft- 

 woods grew with the pine. At its best, it is the largest pine of the 

 United States, except the sugar pine of California. The largest trees 

 grew in New England where diameters of six or more feet and heights 

 exceeding 200 feet were found. A diameter of four and five feet and a 

 height of 150 feet are about the size limits in the Lake States and the 

 southern mountains. Trees two or three feet through and ninety and 

 120 tall are a fair average for mature timber. 



The wood of white pine is among the lightest of the commercial 



