THE PINE INVESTIGATION. 271 



PART II. 



THE PINE INVESTIGATION. 



THE PINE OF WEST VIRGINIA. 



Five native kinds or species of pine are more or less com- 

 mon in West Virginia, viz : the white, yellow, pitch, scrub and 

 table mountain pine. The loblolly, or old field pine has been 

 recorded 1 from the State, and evidence is had that the red, or 

 Canadian pine occurs in at least one locality. 



The White Pine 1 is a large tiee with light colored bark and 

 with narrow, soft, light-green leaves, four to five inches long, 

 growing five in a bundle ; the cones are slender, curved and 

 four to six inches long. This valuable representative of the 

 pine family grows to a large tree in the sections of the State 

 where the conditions are favorable for it, sometimes attaining 

 a height of 125 feet and a diameter at the base of over 4 feet. 

 It is widely distributed over the State, forming typical forests 

 of greater or less extent in Pocahontas and Greenbrier on the 

 eastern waters of the Greenbrier river, and in Raleigh county, 

 on Perry creek ; in Summers and Monroe counties, on Blue- 

 stone river; in Preston and Tucker, on the waters of Cheat 

 river; in Pendleton and Hampshire and South Branch moun- 

 tain on the Potomac waters; in Calhoun and Gilmer, near the 

 Little Kanawha river; in the central part of Ritchie and north- 

 ern portion of Marion counties along the B. <feO. R. R. I have 

 also observed it along the Little Kanawha river in Wood and 

 Wirt ; in Hampshire on North river, at foot of Ice mountain ; 

 Grant, along West Virginia Central R. R. ; Randolph, on Dry 

 Fork of Cheat; Marion, along the Monongahela river at 

 Nuzums, and Monongalia, near Morgantown. 



The Yellow Pine 3 is next in importance to the white pine, 

 and grows to a large tree. It has soft, thin and flaky bark, 

 the leaves are slender, dark-green, three to five inches long, 

 and grow two and three in a bundle, more frequently the 



1 Flora of W. Va, Bull. 24 W. Va. Ex. Sta. 2 Pinus strobus, L. 3 Pinus echinata, Mill. 



