38 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



A Virgin Forest of White Pine. 



SUCH A FOREST IS RARE NOWADAYS, WHEREAS ONCE THEY WERE IN GREAT PROFUSION. 



flooring, frames, structural timbers, 

 chests, weather-boarding, furniture, 

 brackets, and many more, and the white 

 pine of which they are chiefly or wholly 

 made has remained un warped, un- 

 checked, and generally without decay, 

 since before the Revolutionary War. 



The wood is rated weak and brittle in 

 comparison with longleaf pine of the 

 southern states or Douglas fir of the 

 Pacific Coast. It is not now considered 

 suitable for structural timbers intended 

 for heavy loads; but enormous quantities 

 of it have been used, more in early 

 times than now. It was once so plentiful 

 that the builder cut his structural tim- 

 bers large enough to carry the load, or 

 he put in more timbers until the required 

 strength was secured. It was rafters 

 and wall plates, braces and studding, 

 joists and kingposts. White pine is too 

 costly to be so used now; and it is not 

 demanded, because stronger woods are 

 available, and this one's best service is 

 given elsewhere. 



White pine is one of the plainest 

 woods. It has no figure except that pro- 

 duced by the annular growth rings, and 

 it is characterless and uninteresting. 

 Being a coniferous wood it, of course, 

 has no pores, and consequently the 



application of stains and fillers produces 

 only flat and monotonous effects. By 

 chewing a splinter, a decided taste of 

 turpentine may be had, and the odor is 

 marked; yet, it is usual to class white 

 pine with the tasteless and odorless 

 woods. These terms belong to the box 

 maker, and that is his way of stating 

 whether a certain wood will injure 

 articles shipped in boxes, particularly 

 food. Most woods of white color are 

 satisfactory in that respect, and white 

 pine is one of the best. Vast quantities 

 have been made into shipping boxes. 

 Millions of pairs of New England shoes 

 have gone to market in those containers, 

 and millions of yards of cloth. Further 

 west the white pine boxes have carried 

 groceries and other household articles. 

 The annual white pine supply to box 

 factories in Michigan is 57,000,000 feet; 

 in Illinois 105,000,000; in New York 

 133,000,000; in New Hampshire 142,- 

 000,000; and in Massachusetts 263,- 

 000,000. It is the leading box material 

 in all of these states. It likewise leads 

 for the whole United States. The total 

 exceeds 1,100,000,000 feet yearly. The 

 nearest approach to that vast figure is 

 by the southern yellow pines, while red 

 gum stands third with a little more 



