TREES GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 



251 



and the air it is then hardened into a soothing plaster which 

 prevents the vital fluids from escaping. Through the aid of bal- 

 sam therefore the tree is often saved from dying and is kept 

 alive for a long time, even although it has been girdled. The 

 heart-wood of many pines also never seems to grow old. When 

 necessary it can resume the function of its youth and pilot the 

 sap up to the leaves for nourishment. 



The wood of the Canadian, or red pine, is pale red, hard and 

 compact. Its grain is not nearly so beautiful as that of the 

 yellow pine. For many purposes it is used, such as the con- 

 struction of bridges, and it is largely exported from Canada to 

 Great Britain. The bark contains tannin. 



Although always a picturesque tree, it is in its youth that 

 Pinus resinosa is most beautiful. Its long, supple needles then 

 grow in clusters along the branches as well as in thick, soft 

 tufts at their extremities. As the tree grows old the side 

 needles fall away, and were it not for the end clusters it would 

 look almost as though it were dead. 



JERSEY PINE. SCRUB PINE. {Plate CXXXVI.) 



Pinus Vtri^tnidna. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pine. Pyramidaly irregular: 15-40 _/>?/, Eastern St.ites to South April, May. 



branches, scraggly, or higher . Carolina and Indiana, 

 drooping. 



Bark : greyish brown or black ; rough ; flaky. Branches : smooth ; the 

 twigs purplish; glaucous. Leaves: from nearly one to three inches long; 

 deep yellow-green ; sim|)le; growing closely along the branches in bunches of 

 two and sheathed at their bases ; when old spreading ; needle-shaped ; round 

 and glabrous on the upper side, flat and rough below ; slightly curved ; stiff. 

 Cones: from nearly two to three inches long; solitary; ovate-oblong and 

 growing on short stalks. Scales ; thin ; thickened at the apex and tipped with 

 a stiff, awl-shaped prickle ; often cracked horizontally. 



From the subtle but recognised lines of beauty this pine has 

 indeed departed, and its reputation is that of not being hand- 

 some. But who shall say that its rugged, irregular growth does 

 not present beauty in another than the conventional form? 

 Surely in the regions where it grows no one stops to criticise it, 



