PINE FAMILY 



surface of the scales. As they fall away they take with them 

 portions of the membranaceous lining of the scale which form 

 wing-like attachments. The cotyledons vary from three to 

 eighteen. Pines may be easily raised from seeds which, how- 

 ever, must not be permitted to become dry as they soon lose 

 their vitality. 



"^The world finds many of its most important timber trees 

 among the Pines, and the wood is used in such enormous 

 quantities that the destruction of the forests is inevitable. 

 Even if left to itself it, undoubtedly, would in course of time 

 have succumbed under the hard conditions of the modern 

 world ; but now that man has come into the field with axe 

 and torch, there is no escape, the Pine is doomed ; and must 

 live hereafter, if it lives at all, as a domestic tree, the object 

 of man's care and protection. 



As Darwin states the situation, "The Oaks have driven 

 the fines to the sands." The Pine is handicapped in the 

 race of life because of its inability to reproduce itself with 

 the vigor of other trees. As soon as it is cut down the root 

 dies, there exists no power of sending forth shoots from the 

 stump and forcing new growth. There are exceptions to 

 this rule but this is the general law. The pine seed is light, 

 its vitality fleeting, and it must find favorable conditions at 

 once or its chance is gone. The acorn can wait, and so the 

 Pines have been steadily driven backward by the nut-bearing 

 trees and especially the oaks, foot by foot, from the deep 

 rich soil until the proper characterization of their habitat 

 is not, "Centres of Distribution," but "Areas of Preserva- 

 tion." 



The following table will assist in the determination of 

 species. 



Leaves 5 in a sheath ; 3' to 4' long ; cone-scales slightly thickened at the tip. 



P. strobus. White Pine. 

 Leaves 2 or 3, in a sheath ; cone-scales much thickened at the tip. 



I Cones Terminal or Subterminal : 



Leaves 2 in a long sheath; 4' to 6' long; cone ovate-conical, i^' to 

 2%' long; scales without prickles. P. resinous. Red Pine. 



442 



