226 CONVERSATIONS ON THB 



or thirty years more, I am afraid, the black 

 pines will be all gone ; the wood is much 

 dearer now than it was ten years ago." 



" And then what will the steamboats do 

 for fires, Uncle Philip ?" 



" Why, they must then burn coal, as they 

 do in England." 



" And when the coal is all gone. Uncle 

 Philip, what shall we do then?" 



"Oh, as for that, I think we need not feel 

 uneasy ; there is coal enough in the United 

 States to last some thousands of years yet, 

 a time so far distant, that it need not give us 

 any concern at present. 



" Of all the pines, the most abundant, ex- 

 cept the white, is the long-leaved pine, that I 

 mentioned just now ; it is not found farther 

 north than Virginia, but from thence all the 

 way through the Southern States and the 

 Floridas, you may find it almost every step, 

 and in many places in this region, you meet 

 nothing else in the shape of a tree. The leaves 

 are the largest of any ; they are more than afoot 

 long, of a beautiful brilliant green, and there 

 are always three growing together from the 

 same root : the cones too are enormous ; 



