DESCRIPTION OF THE TREE. 101 



des Bois cree a VEcole Forestiere de Nancy. " This tree, the Pi7ms 

 sylvestris, of Linnseus, is known under numerous names — the wild 

 pine, the pine of the north, of Riga, of Hagenau, and of Geneva, 

 the pinasse, &c., and it is one of which the red pine or Scotch pine is 

 only a variety, recognisable by its shorter leaves, by its cones being 

 smaller and grouped in whorls, and by the reddish tinge of its young 

 shoots. It constitutes the principal tree in a great many forests of 

 considerable extent in which it is found mixed with the oak and birch. 

 '^Climate, Situation, and Exposure. — The temperate climates are 

 those in which it manifests greatest vigour of growth ; but cold coun- 

 tries are not inimical to it, for in the north of Europe, in Russia more 

 especially, and in Sweden, it acquires most valuable qualities and 

 dimensions, and by itself alone covers great extents of country. It 

 grows on the plain as well as on slopes ; but high elevations do not suit 

 it. In these situations the snow and hoar-frost accumulate in great 

 quantities on its leaves, and that to a greater degree than on the 

 other resinous trees of cold countries, whereby often branches are 

 torn oflF, and sometimes the trunk itself is broken, 



" It succeeds on all exposures, not exclusive of the full south, when 

 it is undertaken to replenish wide spaces, or deteriorated forests with 

 a south exposure. It is a tree greatly in demand, not only because 

 it is satisfied with a poor and dry soil, but because the you.ng plants 

 better sustain the sun's heat than do those of the other coniferae." 

 But they remark that in saying this they are only speaking of the 

 more temperate districts of France ; that the departments in the south 

 of France have other trees which grow there, such as the maritime 

 pine, and the Alleppo pine ; and that it is probable that the pm 

 sylvestre would succeed ill there unless at elevations at which the 

 beat is less intense. It is mentioned that in the Pyrenees it is found 

 at an altitude of 1,200 metres. 



" Terrain, or Soil. — It demands a deep light soil, it is found even 

 on sand entirely devoid of cohesion, and the wood produced on such 

 ground is of better quality than is that grown on more substantial 

 soil ; compact earths are unfriendly to it ; and, although it does 

 succeed on marls, its growth on these is much inferior to what it is 

 on silicious ground. 



" It is sometimes found on moist and turfy spots ', but its vegetation 

 there is in a languishing condition, and it there presents itself 

 ordinarily in so peculiar an aspect that it has been taken for a totally 

 different species of tree. 



" Flowering and Fructification. — The flowers are monoeceous ; they 

 appear in April or in May, according to the temperature. 



