VEGETATION. 317 



in quality to that of naturally sown timber. The 

 planted pines are a very striking instance of that ; 

 for in those districts where the natural pines afford 

 very excellent and durable timber, the planted 

 ones, even when the corns have been taken from 

 the natural trees, are spongy and soft ; and the 

 " hearty " wood of them does not last much 

 longer than the sap-wood of the natural trees. 



Want of the proper action of light at " start- 

 ing," is not the only injury which timber trees 

 sustain, by the way in which they are grown for 

 the market. They are sown so close, that while 

 they remain in the seed-beds they want both air 

 and light. A seed-bed of pines, in the early 

 stage of their growth, resembles a plat of moss 

 more than any thing else : and when it is con- 

 sidered that, in the situation where they are na- 

 tive, the pines stand singly and are exposed on 

 all sides to the action of very keen air, it must 

 easily be seen that they cannot acquire their due 

 strength, when huddled together to the number 

 of many hundreds on a square foot. Those who 

 are familiar with pine forests, or pine plantations, 

 must be aware that the seeds of the cones never 

 germinate under the thick shade of the trees and 

 grow up so as to form an underwood in the forest. 

 Cones in abundance are produced every season, but 

 they contribute chiefly to the food of the animal in- 

 habitants, and it is only where a blank occurs, from 

 the decay or the casual destruction of a tree, that 

 young plants rise to fill it up. There are, indeed, 

 few or no trees, of which the young plants grow 

 and form underwood, while, the old ones remain 

 filling the air above. Nor would it be in accord- 

 ance with our general observation of nature if 

 E e3 



