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perfection the extensive territory comprehended between the forty-second and forty-fifth degree of north 

 latitude. Within this space lie large portions of the provinces of New York, New England, Nova 

 Scotia, and Canada. The principal woods are on the shores of Fundy Bay and of Casco Bay (in Nova 

 Scotia) on the eastern side of Massachnset Bay; on the shores of the rivers Pislcatoqua and Merrimach 

 (in New Hampshire) and of the Connecticut, and Mohawk ; and from the extreme northern side of the 

 river St. Lawrence towards Montreal and the shores of the Lake Champlain . In the more southerly 

 parts of North America, this species appears but sparingly (as Wangcnheim informs us) and never in 

 continued forests ; a proof that a cold, rough climate suits it best. The soil in which this Pine is found, 

 is said to be of the best kind, being a clay mixed with sand and other earths; it is light and moist, 



preserving these qualities to the depth of some feet. 



The vallies, the crevices of the mountains, and banks of rivers are the conservatories, as it ^vere, to 

 which the rains and melted snows in the spring carry down the fattest parts of the soil of the higher 

 lands. In these spots, which are sometimes pretty elevated, the natural plantations of P. Strobus are 

 seen growing to a height and thickness, not exceeded by any other of the tribe; indeed, few come near 

 to it in these particulars. It is certain that among the full-grown trees, on the best ground, there are 

 some two hundred feet in height, and four or five in diameter at the lower end of the trunk. Wan- 

 genhelm tells us that he was convinced of the truth of this statement when he was in the dock-yards 

 of Plymouth. " We saw," says he, " two masts for seventy-four gun ships which measured in the 

 whole piece one hundred and eight feet in length, and a roller that was every where three feet in 

 diameter. Such a tree must have been two hundred feet long, and five feet or more in diameter." 

 (Beyt. p. 2), The growth of this tree, as we are informed by the same intelligent author, is very 

 uniform in its native forests wherever it is surrounded with others. It naturally prunes itself, the 

 branches falling off of their own accord. When the young tree stands free, and exposed on open spots, 

 the branches are very extensive, and the planks cut from such have no knots. But when several 

 ■are growing close together they attain their full size in sixty years, whereas the same height in P. Picea 

 usually requires one hundred years. Under these circumstances, in advanced years P. Strohiis has a very 

 small top, in proportion to its height and thickness, composed of long twigs, which do not break under 

 the pressure of the heaviest snow, a pressure that would otherwise greatly impede the growth of the 

 tree. The hark, at first, is pretty smooth and of a dark grey colour, but in old trees it becomes some- 

 what brown and abundantly impregnated with a whitish resin, which has a very agreeable odour. The 

 wood is of a yellowish white colour, of a tolerable hardness, very fine, almost resembling the white 

 eedar, and works straight, smooth, and shining. It contains many volatile resinous partides, which 

 contribute greatly to its preservation. The leaves are almost three inches long, and grow five in a 

 sheath. They are of a bright green colour, triangular, and very finely serrated. The flowers appear 

 at the end of April. The cones are from six to eight inches long, and nearly one inch in diameter 

 Every one of them has a short fruit-stalk, and two or three generally shoot round the same branch 

 Before the cones open, the scales lie loosely upon one another. The latter are round smooth and 

 when npc, of a brownish copper colour; at a distance they assume a whitish cast occasioned by the 

 sun melting a kmd of turpentine which oozes from the unripe scales, and makes them clammy The 

 seeds have uniform wings, and are glued, as it were, to the scales by the resinous exudation. When 

 the seed flies out, the wings are generally broken by the wind, so that it is not usually carried far from 

 the tree. It ripens towards the end of August, and, if there happen to be hot da^ 

 of September, it will be shaken out 



When there is an intention to rear considerable plantations of P. SMus, good seed should be care- 

 fully chosen, and a soil prepared neither too rich nor heavy, and mixed with sand. As to trans 

 planting every able nurseryman will allow that it impedes the natural growth; he will have remarked 

 a^so hat plants set at a drstance from one another grow more to twigs, prune themselves latrtd 

 therefore in an equal number of years, rise to less height than if thev h.^ L i . , , 



ys about the middle 



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