126 



Forests and Trees 



limits. Its trunk is often short and stunted, but in thick groves 

 may be straight and slender, and free from branches for about 

 one- third of its length. The branches are long, and may either 

 form a rather acute angle with the stem, or be given off at right 

 angles. 



The leaves are dark green, about one and a half inches long, 

 stout, rigid and more or less curved. They are arranged 

 scmewhat loosely along the stem. The bark is thin, brown or 

 reddish and thickly covered with irregular scales. The cones 

 are sessile, not more than two inches long, and 

 strongly curved toward the stem, owing to the 

 greater development of the scales on the outer 

 side. This unequal growth of the scales com- 

 posing the cone makes it very oblique at the 

 base, so much so that at tunes the stem ap- 

 pears to come out of the cone at the side. 

 The wood is pale brown or yellowish-white, 

 close-grained but light and weak. 



The jack pine is a tree of the north. It 

 seems to seek neither moisture nor uniformity 

 of temperature, but reaches its best develop- 

 ment on dry sandy plains exposed to scorch- 

 ing heat in summer and severe frosts in winter. Its range 

 extends across northern Canada to Lake Winnipeg, and thence 

 northward and westward to the Rocky Mountains and Great 

 Bear Lake. 



As a timber tree it is valuable locally for fuel, posts and 

 building logs. It is not sawn into lumber to any very great 

 extent. It grows quickly and is easily propagated from seed, 

 but the cones open only after being subjected to heat. Its 

 rapid growth and rather shrubby form make it a tree which 

 has good possibilities if used for ornamental purposes. 



FIG. 5. Jack 

 Pine. 



