PART II 



TREES 



"I have just been visiting a tree I know." - - THOREAU. 



THE PINE FAMILY. PINACE^ 



"The dominant races come from the region of the pine." 



JOHN BURROUGHS. 



MEMBERS of this family may be distinguished from all other 

 trees by the possession of a resinous juice, needle-shaped ever- 

 green leaves and fruit in the form of cones. It is true one of 

 these features may sometimes be lacking. The leaves of the 

 tamarack are not evergreen, the leaves of the cedar are more 

 scale-like than needle-shaped, and the scales covering the seeds 

 of the juniper are so fleshy that the fruit is more frequently 

 called a berry than a cone. In spite of these exceptions, how- 

 ever, the statement is still true that the possession of these three 

 features will place a tree or shrub in this family. 



The family includes not only the pines proper, but spruces, 

 cedars, tamaracks, hemlocks, firs and junipers, and its members 

 are amongst the most valuable of all timber trees. 



Although some of the members of the family are low and shrub- 

 like, the majority are trees with large straight trunks. The 

 wood is strong, but usually soft and easily worked, while the 

 resinous juice protects it from decay. When land is being 

 cleared the hardwood stumps soon rot, their decayed roots 

 mixing with and forming part of the soil, but pine stumps must 

 be dug out, for the resin preserves the wood so that they rot 

 very slowly. Almost all the timber used for buildings, bridges, 



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