THE PINE. 41 1 



indicated by the redness of its colour, is considered to 

 be scarcely inferior to that of the oak, and instances are 

 given where timbers of Pine in the roofs of old buildings 

 had, after the lapse of several centuries, been found per- 

 fectly sound ; amongst these is one mentioned by Dr. 

 Smith in the " Transactions of the Highland Society," 

 where the timbers of an old castle, after they had sus- 

 tained the roof for three hundred years, when taken down 

 were found as fresh and full of resin as newly imported 

 timber from Memel. In addition to durability the wood 

 of the Pine is light, stiff, and strong, easily worked, and 

 freer from knots than most other species of fir, qualities 

 which render it admirably adapted for all kinds of house 

 carpentry and joinery ; its length and straightness of trunk, 

 as well as the large scantling it attains, fits it also for the 

 main timbers of buildings, such as rafters, joists, &c, which 

 are almost universally made of it. In naval architecture, 

 again, it is very extensively used, and the best masts and 

 spars are considered to be those of the common Pine, im- 

 ported from Riga and other parts of the Baltic. Entire 

 ships are also frequently built of it, but these are better 

 calculated for trade than for vessels of war, as they are 

 not only weaker and less durable than those built of oak, 

 but they have the disadvantage of splintering to a much 

 greater extent when struck by cannon shot, Avhich is 

 always attended with greater danger and destruction of 

 life, than when the missile merely opens itself a passage 

 through the wood. In a young state, as we have already 

 remarked, the wood of the Scotch fir is very inferior to 

 the same when matured, and, in order to render it useful 

 and available, it must be subjected to some artificial pro- 

 cess. It is, however, far from being an unprofitable wood 

 to the planter in many districts, even in this inferior state, 



