CHAPTER XXXV. 

 PINES (Continued). 



THE AMERICAN PITCH PINE TREE (Finns rigidci). 



THIS tree is found spread over a wide tract of country 

 lying between the Penobscot and the Mississippi rivers 

 in North America. It is of erect and almost perfectly 

 straight growth, and may be readily distinguished from 

 others by its leaves being in threes, by the rigidity and 

 sharp edges of the scales of the cones, by the extreme 

 roughness of its bark, and by the density of the brushes 

 of its stiff and crowded leaves. It requires a good 

 supply of moisture to bring it to the greatest perfection, 

 and flourishes well on a sandy soil if mixed with loam. 



The Southern States produce the best spars for 

 masts, square timber, and plank, and these are shipped 

 to this country chiefly from the ports of Savannah, Darien, 

 and Pensacola, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Alabama. The mast-pieces are generally of 

 moderate dimensions, and take the place of Riga or 

 Dantzic spars of 18 to 16 hands, whenever there is any 

 difficulty in procuring either of those descriptions, and 

 except that the Pitch Pine has a greater specific gravity, 

 there is little to prevent it from being used more exten- 

 sively than hitherto, in lieu of the Baltic Firs. 



The timber is usually imported in well-hewn logs of 

 II to 1 8 inches square by from 20 to 45 feet in length, 



