STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37 



symmetfieal trees; it is hard}-, it will succeed ia almost auy situatiou; 

 there are some uafortnuate sections of the couutrj- where it does uoi 

 succeed, but there are no conifers, except one, which are easier to handle 

 than the white pine. The white pine is suitable for purposes of protec- 

 tion. There is nothing better than the white pine for a windbreak. 



Another good pine is also a native of this part of the country. The 

 nurseries are now having their attention called to the red, or Xorway 

 pine. There is a foreign pine, whicli composes the celebrated Black 

 Forest in Germany, the Austiian pine, which verj- much resembles the 

 red pine. It is tlie handsomer tree of tlie two ; it has a more com- 

 pact head, it is more symmetrical and at a little distance, in certain 

 stages of their growth, it would be very difficult to distinguish them. 

 If you plant them side by side they will both make a beautiful growth 

 for thirty or forty j-ears, sometimes more, geuerallj- less ; then the 

 Austrian pine will begin to deteriorate. What happens it is hard to say ; 

 sometimes it is an insect that attacks it ; sometimes a fungus ; some- 

 thing is lacking in our soil, climate or atmosphere which is detrimental, 

 which prevents the tree from making its growth. 



The pitch pine for certain work is unsurpassed. It is a very tough 

 tree; it will grow in the most exposed situations, along the sea coast 

 where the winds come off water. You will find that the needles of the 

 white pine, under those circumstances, will turn brown; apparently 

 it does not hurt the tree but it makes it look used-up in the spring. 

 But in this situation you can plant the pitch pine and have it succeed 

 admirabl}'. 



There is one foreign pine which is to be recommended; in fact there 

 are two, of one of which I have spoken. The Austrian pine is a thor- 

 oughl}- good plant for a short-lived tree. It sometimes happens that it 

 is desirable to plant a tree that will last only twenty to thirty years, 

 and for such a purpose the Austrian pine makes a thoroughly good tree. 

 The trouble is that it is for a short time oul}'. 



The Scotch pine makes this same sort of growtla. The Scotch pine, 

 however, grows in much more exposed situations than either the while, 

 red or pitch pine and it will grow in much poorer soil. We verv often 

 use Scotch pines to form protection foi" a number of years, five or ten 

 J-ears, until the plantations of the more enduring white pines, red pines 

 or pitch pines have become established. 



The white spruce, another of your common Maine trees, is of 

 great value. Here, again, we have a little difficult}-. It is rather 

 hard to get wliite spruce in any considerable quantity. You can get the 

 plants by the dozen, you can get them bj- the hundreds and occasionally 

 by the thousands, but they are not to be had in any very large quantities. 



The Xorway spruce, that is the Abies Excelsa, whicli resembles 

 very much the black spruce, is in some waj's the only evergreen 

 tree which will succeed under any and all circumstances. If you have 

 a poor soil, if j-ou have an exposed situation where nothing else will 

 grow, where nothing else will live, you may be sure that you can 



