PINE FAMILY 



The Ptnacece as now constituted comprises the Pine, Larch, 

 Spruce, Hemlock, Fir, Cypress, Sequoia, Cedar, Arborvitae, 

 and Juniper. The Yew and the Gingko, a naturalized Chinese 

 tree, belong to the Taxacecz or Yew family. 



THE PINE 



Pinus. 



There occur within the limits of the United States thirty- 

 nine species of Pine ; seven are found in New England and 

 middle Atlantic states, seven flourish principally in the low- 

 lands of the south and twenty-five are recognized in the 

 west. The central basin of the Mississippi has none. They 

 are tolerant of many conditions of soil and climate ; they 

 flourish on the lowlands at the water's edge ; they climb the 

 mountains to the timber line ; they inhabit the drifting sands 

 upon the shore and keep back the waves of the sea. The 

 method of growth is peculiar and characteristic. The 

 branches are disposed in regular order, circularly in imper- 

 fect whorls around the central trunk. One of these whorls 

 is formed each year from the row of branch buds which en- 

 circle the main stem and these whorls furnish an easy way to 

 tell the age of young trees. But in the forest these branches 

 die and even the marks of them disappear so that the trunk 

 rises a smooth unbroken shaft for sixty or one hundred 

 feet. 



The roots of the Pine never descend deep and they are 

 practically imperishable by the action of the elements alone. 



TWhen pine lands are cleared, the stumps are often made into 

 fences, by placing them in rows, with their roots interlacing. 



- Such fences are both picturesque and enduring. 



The wood may be hard or soft but it is usually resinous. 

 The other products are turpentine, rosin and tar. Turpen- 

 tine is the resinous exudation of the tree, obtained in this 

 country by cutting a pocket through the bark into the wood 



440 



