PINACE^E 



destruction; to plant new trees would be to add fuel to 

 flames.* But that is not all. 'There is no apparent rea- 

 son/ to quote Prof. Scudder again, 'why the destruction 

 should not extend to the Penobscot or as far as the pitch 

 pine flourishes.' To prevent this it is the plain duty of 

 the Nantucket people 'to cut down the entire forest, sell 

 the wood (for fuel) and burn the brush, leaving not even 

 a seedling anywhere; then to pasture the sheep upon the 

 spot for two years, and carefully destroy every seedling that 

 springs up outside of the fences, which confine the flock.' " 



But, as Mr. Bicknell says, 



"This prophecy remains unfulfilled. To-day although 

 the blight of insect damage presents a dismal spectacle 

 here and there, the pines in the main enjoy a clean and 

 vigorous growth, and have grouped themselves into close 

 or open formations, which are a very feature of parts of 

 the Nantucket landscape." 



" Indeed," Mr. Bicknell adds, "it is now the most 

 abundant and conspicuous tree of Nantucket." 



For the identifier the readiest mark of distinction of 

 this pine lies in the fact that the needles are in threes, 

 rarely fours. 



PINACE.E PINE FAMILY 



Juniper us virginiana, L. 



Red Cedar Juniper Bush 



Carolina Cedar, Juniper, 



Red Savin, Pencil-wood. 

 Savin, 



Juniperus: the classical name. 

 Virginiana: Latin for Virginian. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons 

 or beach sand. 



THE TREE : generally erect, but often so wind-blown as 

 to assume low and fantastic shapes, sometimes over twenty 



4 



