The Pines 



young that there are practically no big knots in the lumber. He 

 cuts clear, beautiful boards out of such a tree, and there is very 

 little waste. Or he squares the trunk for a big bridge timber 

 whose value and strength would be greatly lessened by large 

 knots. 



The great pine forests of lower Canada and the Northern 

 States seemed inexhaustible to the early settlers. New York 

 and Pennsylvania had pineries that promised a lumber supply for 

 generations to come. But alas! for human foresight. The 

 avarice of lumber companies and the blindness of politicians have 

 squandered the heritage of the people. The virgin forests are 

 gone except in areas too scattered and small to tempt the lumber- 

 men. Second growth covers some of the territory that was 

 stripped, but it will be hundreds of years before another such 

 crop can come to maturity. The wanton wastefulness in the 

 original slaughter of the pines is the greatest pity of it all. Forest 

 fires, once started, eagerly fed on the "slash" the loggers left 

 behind, and devoured untold acres of virgin woods. 



The soft, white, resinous wood of P. Strobus is remarkably 

 easy to work. It was used in all kinds of construction — from 

 masts of ships to matches — it was shipped over the country for 

 house building, for furniture, fencing and the like. Now its 

 scarcity has led to the substitution of other woods, notably the 

 hard pines of the Southern States. 



The white pine has considerable vigour, reseeding lumbered 

 areas, where poplars or other short-lived trees come in and 

 furnish shade for the young seedlings. Careful forestry will 

 restore pines to many tracts too broken for agricultural use. In 

 fact, work to this end is being carried on to a considerable extent 

 in the Northeastern and Middle States. Much of this work is 

 under the direction of the Bureau of Forestry. White pine is one 

 of the most profitable timber crops to plant at the present time. 

 Horticulturally considered, P. Sirobus is one of the best of the 

 pines. It is quick growing, symmetrical, and handsome in its 

 early years ; later it becomes more irregular, but full of character, 

 and beautiful in clean limbs and the plume-like tufts of blue-green 

 leaves. The tree is picturesque, even in decrepit age, towering 

 in stately dignity over the heads of neighbour trees, adding 

 distinction to all sylvan scenery A white pine grown in the 

 open has a broad crown that often keeps its lower branches, 



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