56 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



conditions in any way favorable. Turpentine operators have not found 

 the working of loblolly pine profitable, and this has relieved it of a drain 

 which has done much to deplete the southern forests of longleaf pine. 



Loblolly's leaves are from six to nine inches long, and fall the third 

 year. This species, in common with other southern yellow pines, is 

 disposed to grow tall, clear trunks, with a meager supply of limbs and 

 foliage at the top. The lumber sawed from trunks of that kind is clear 

 of knots. No other important forest tree of the United States comes as 

 nearly being a cultivated tree as the loblolly pine. This is particularly 

 true in the northeastern part of its range, in North Carolina, Virginia, 

 and Maryland. Though nature has done the actual planting, men 

 provided the seed beds by giving up old fields to that use ; and many of 

 the stands are as thick and even as if they had been planted and cared 

 for by regular forestry methods. Trees are from eighty to one hundred 

 feet tall, and from two to four in diameter, some very old ones being a 

 little larger. 



The annual rings of loblolly pine are broad, with good contrast 

 between the spring and summer growth. The wood is light, not strong, 

 brittle, not durable, very resinous, the resin passages are few and not 

 conspicuous; medullary rays are numerous and obscure; color, light 

 brown, the thick sapwood orange or nearly white. When this tree is of 

 slow growth it is lighter, less resinous, and has thinner sapwood. It is 

 sometimes known as rosemary pine. 



The use of loblolly pine lumber was greatly stimulated when the 

 custom of drying it in kilns became general. It is largely sapwood and 

 dries slowly in air. Its market is found in all eastern and central parts 

 of the United States, and it is exported to Europe and Central and South 

 America. It is a substantial material for many common purposes and 

 its use is very large on the Atlantic coast- In quantity it exceeds any 

 other species in the wood-using industries of Maryland, and all others 

 combined hi North Carolina. It is not as often employed in heavy 

 structural timbers as longleaf pine, but in the market of which Baltimore 

 is the center, much use is made of it for that purpose. It is ten pounds 

 a cubic foot lighter than longleaf, has about three-fourths of the strength, 

 and nearly four-fifths of longleaf s elasticity. It is thus seen to be 

 considerably inferior to it as a structural timber where heavy loads must 

 be sustained; but builders use it for many purposes in preference to or on 

 an equality with longleaf. It is fine for interior finish and doors. Rail- 

 roads employ large quantities in building freight cars, much for cross- 

 ties, and bridge builders find many places for it. It is not a long lasting 

 wood when exposed to weather, unless it has been treated with creosote to 

 preserve it from decay. It is one of the most easily treated woods. 



