THE PINE. 



465 



enumerates ten; a few of the most valuaLle of 

 which we shall describe. 



The Bed Pine fp. rttbra), sometimes called 

 the Norway pine, is found in Canada, Nova 

 Scotia, and the northern parts of the States. It 

 occupies small tracts of a few hundred acres, 

 either alone, or singled with the white pine. It 

 grows in dry and sandy soils to the height of 

 seventy or eighty feet, and two feet in diameter. 

 It is chiefly remarkable for the uniform size of 

 its trunk for two- thirds of its length. The bark 

 is of a clearer red than that of the other species. 

 The cones are about two inches long, rounded at 

 the base, and abruptly pointed. They shed their 

 seeds the first year. The wood has a fine com- 

 pact grain, and is very resinous; it is frequently 

 employed in naval architecture, and affords masts 

 for the largest ships. It is exported into Britain 

 from the district of Maine, and the shores of lake 

 Charaplain. 



The YellotB Pine (p. mitis). This tree is 

 widely diffused in North America. It is a beau- 

 tiful and symmetrical tree, the branches fonning 

 a pyramid at the summit. It rises to the height of 

 fifty and sixty feet, having a thickness of about 

 eighteen inches : the leaves are rather short, of a 

 bright green colour, and united in pairs. The 

 cones ai-e oval, armed with five spines, and of 

 very small size. The concentric or annual circles 

 of the wood, are six times as numerous in a given 

 space, as those of the pitch and loblolly pines : 

 the heart is fine grained, and moderately resinous, 

 which renders the wood compact without great 

 weight. Long experience has proved its excel- 

 lence and durability; and it is universally em- 

 ployed in the countries where it grows as a 

 domestic wood, as well as extensively imported 

 to Britain and the West India islands. 



The Long-leawd Pine (p. ,70 



australis), is also known as the 

 yellowpitch, broom, and Georgia 

 pine. It is first seen near Nor- 

 folk in Virginia, where the pine 

 barrens begin; and it extends 

 over the lower part of the Cai-o- 

 linas, and the states of Georgia 

 and Florida, occupying dry 

 sandy soils. Its mean stature is 

 about sixty feet, with a uniform 

 diameter of eighteen inehes for 

 two-thirds of its stem. The 

 leaves are a foot long, of a beauti- 

 ful brilliant green. The cones 

 are also very large, being seven to 

 eight inches long, and four inches 

 thick when open. They are 

 armed with retorted spines; the 

 seeds are in general very abundant; the kernel 

 is of an agreeable taste, and is voraciously 

 eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels, and the swine 

 that live almost wholly in the woods. In some 



unfruitful years, however, whole forests of hun- 

 dreds of miles will not yield a single cone. The 

 wood is compact, fine grained, durable, and 

 susceptible of receiving a fine polish, advan- 

 tages which give it a preference over every other 

 species. These qualities, however, are much 

 influenced and modified by the nature of the 

 soil. It is extensively used in the States where 

 it grows for aU domestic purposes; and in naval 

 architecture is reckoned superior to all the other 

 pines. Sometimes the wood is of a reddish hue, 

 when it is considered of superior quality. In 

 England and the West Indies, it sells for thirty 

 per cent, more than other pine woods. It is from 

 this tree also that the principal supply of pitch, 

 resin, and turpentine, is obtained; while the 

 pine barrens being of vast extent, afford an 

 abundant supply of these materials, both for home 

 consumpt and exportation. 



To obtain the turpentine, which begins to flow 

 about the middle of March, and increases in the 

 wai-m months of July and August, loxes, or 

 hollows, are formed in the base of the pines, 

 about three or four inches from the ground, 

 generally on the south side. These boxes will 

 contain about thi'ee pints of fluid; but they are 

 made in proportion to the size of the trunk, of 

 which they generally occupy about one-fourth of 

 the diameter. On large trees, two, and sometimes 

 four such boxes, are made on opposite sides. The 

 ground is carefully raked and cleared of all brush 

 w^ood around the trees, to prevent accidents from 

 fire communicating with the boxes. On each 

 side of this hollow two notches or gutters aro 

 made in the tree, to conduct the sap into the box 

 or cavity; they are oblique, and about three 

 inches long. During a fortnight, which is 

 employed in this first operation, the boxes become 

 filled, when the contents are taken out and con- 

 veyed into casks by wooden ladles. To increase 

 the product, the upper edge of the box is newly 

 chipped once a week, the bark, and a portion of 

 the alburnum being renewed to the depth of four 

 concentric circles. The boxes fill every three 

 weeks; and the turpentine thus procured is of 

 the purest quality. A tree continues thus to 

 yield turpentine for five or six years; but the 

 quantity is greatest in dry and warm years, and 

 least in cold and wet. It is calculated that 250 

 boxes yield a barrel of 320 lbs. of turpentine. 

 A single negro can attend to 4,000 boxes. 



This substance contains resin, and the pure oil 

 or spirit of turpentine, which latter is obtained 

 by distillation in retorts. 



All the tar of the southern States is made 

 from dead wood of the long-leaved pine, which 

 has fallen by accident, and from the summits of 

 trees felled for timber. To obtain this tar, a 

 circular mound of earth is raised with a ditch 

 around the base; in the centre of this earthen 

 mound is a hole communicating with the 

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