The Pine Family 141 



to stand the winds from the Pacific. Over this region it fre- 

 quently forms large tracts of dense forests, but reaches its fullest 

 development in the states of Washington and Oregon. 



As an ornamental tree it has been used with success in Europe, 

 but not to any great extent in America outside of its natural 

 range. It has recently been found that seeds ripened in the 

 interior and at fairly high altitudes produce trees which are 

 hardy in other parts of North America, and its wider use in 

 parks and gardens may be looked for. 



V. THE HEMLOCKS 



Genus Tsuga 



The very word "hemlock" has an evil sound. One is un- 

 pleasantly reminded of the death of Socrates. The poisonous 

 plant, from which the ancients obtained the historic "cup of 

 hemlock," was in reality a kind of wild parsnip, and had nothing 

 in common with the hemlock tree. The word hemlock is of 

 old English origin and no similar word exists in any other 

 language. How the same name came to be given to a poisonous 

 herb of the parsnip family and a genus of large coniferous trees 

 is one of the many unexplained and unexplainable things found 

 in the distribution of names. 



But even the hemlock tree has no good reputation. The 

 eastern hemlock had an unpleasant habit of growing every- 

 where. It was omnipresent. No hardwood was so dense but 

 some hemlocks could find a place; and no pine grove so pure 

 that the hemlock dare not intrude. The wood would neither 

 burn nor rot, and the knots were so hard they broke the wood- 

 man's axe. Even if by much chinking, and not a little swear- 

 ing, a logheap of hemlock was persuaded to burn, it left the 

 knots. These were too wet to burn and too resinous to rot; 

 all that could be done was to dig a hole and bury them. 



