24 o BRITISH FOREST TREES 



13. Introduced from North America. 



i. WEYMOUTH PINE (PINUS STROBUS, L.). This species 

 was introduced by Lord Weymouth about 1705 on his 

 estate in Wiltshire, and has since then become thoroughly 

 acclimatised in northern and central Europe. It is in- 

 digenous to the eastern part of North America, from Canada 

 southwards to Virginia, forming forests on the uplands and 

 hills, and reaches its finest development from 43 to 47 

 north latitude, attaining a height of 200 feet and a girth at 

 breast-height up to twenty feet. In Europe it is occasionally 

 to be found in pure forests, but more generally forming 

 clumps, groups, and patches in mixed forests of other 

 conifers. In production of timber it is second in rate of 

 growth only to the poplar, but its timber, known as American 

 white pine, is neither so durable nor so remunerative that its 

 production is likely to become as inviting as w r ould un- 

 doubtedly be the case if it could command an easy and 

 good market. As, according to Gayer, 1 it is the lightest of 

 all our acclimatised exotics, its cultivation may be recom- 

 mendable wherever there is any fair demand for timber for 

 packing-cases or similar requirements. 



In general growth the Weymouth pine resembles the 

 spruce and the silver fir rather than the Scots pine, being 

 straight, sending out branches in regular whorls almost 

 horizontally from the stem, and forming a crown of conical 

 shape. Grown in close canopy, the crown is confined to 

 the upper portion of the stem in a pointed spindle-shape ; 

 but it is thicker and denser than on the Scots pine, whilst 

 the needles are longer and finer, and also remain persistent 

 for two to three years. It develops a root-system similar 



Die Forslbenutzung, 7th edition, 1888, p. 28. 



