IMPORTANT FOREST SPECIES 401 



or mixed, Scotch pine is easy to manage. All that is necessary is to give the best trees 

 plenty of light in order that they may develop their crown with freedom. ... It 

 is a valuable species for valleys and low mountains. 



MARITIME PINE 

 (Pirnis maritima) 



Root System. — Maritime pine develops a strong tap root and laterals; this makes 

 it absolutely wind-firm and suitable for forestation on the so-caUed "moving sand" of 

 the Landes. As with silver fir, sometimes roots of felled trees graft with those left 

 standing, thus furnishing nourishment to stumps. 



Seed Capacity. — Seed crops begin early (sometimes at 15 years of age), yield abun- 

 dantly, and are almost continuous through middle age. . . . The seed is usually 

 of good quality and retains its germinating power for 3 to 4 years. It sprouts 15 days 

 after spring sowing and produces hardy plants with eight cotyledons which grow rapidly 

 when fully exposed to the direct rays of the sun. There are 10,000 seeds to the pound 

 and 12,080 to the quart. 



Habitat. — Maritime pine occupies an area somewhat similar to that covered by 

 aleppo pine, but is somewhat more restricted and extends farther to the west. It is 

 found west and east from Portugal to Greece, over 30° of longitude; north and south 

 from Dalmatia and the Maures and I'Est&el (at Cannes) to Sicily and Algeria, a distance 

 of some 10° of latitude. Within this area it occupies essentially shore and insular sites, 

 never reaching far from the sea. In Corsica, however, it ascends to 3,280 feet on hills 

 facing the sea and to 4,265 feet in Grenada. Its maximum yield is in the west, where, 

 in Gascony, it forms extensive pure forests. As you proceed eastward the tree becomes 

 smaller and is more scattered. Its optimum region is the opposite of that of aleppo pine. 

 There is but little maritime pine in Algeria, it is common in Corsica, on the shore of the 

 Mediterranean, especially in the Maures and I'Est^rel, in the Almeres hills, and along 

 the foot of the Pyrenees. It is especially dominant from Bayonne to the Sables d'Olonne. 

 Its habitat has been considerably increased by artificial means. It has been used suc- 

 cessfully in central France in mixture with the Scotch pine in reclamation work in the 

 Sologne marshes. 



Soil. — Its optimum growth is on sandy soils; it does not thrive on clay. . . . Its 

 failure to grow on clay soils is explained by the fact that it absorbs too much lime and 

 does not get enough potash and iron. If this mineral requirement is met it will grow 

 on almost any soil, except clay, but prefers light, deep, fresh soils; it will, however, 

 grow on rock soils, such as granite, porphyry, and schist. 



Tolerance. — While it will stand cold (even the climate of Lorraine), in central and 

 western France, it is seriously damaged by severe winters. In 1879 to 1880 whole forests 

 in the Sologne were frost-killed. North of Paris its growth is slow, since it demands a 

 mean annual temperature of at least 12° C. (54° F.) with a winter average never below 

 6° C. (43° F.), but, given suitable climatic conditions, its growth is remarkably active; 

 it often forms two whorls of branches a year. 



Timber. — The sapwood is white; the heartwood varies from light red to more or 

 less dark red-brown. The grain is coarse and the annual rings wide and very conspicu- 

 ous. It is quite hard, heavy, and pUant, and yields more resin than any other conifer. 

 The numerous and large resin ducts, which radiate longitudinally, appear in the heart- 

 wood a brownish-red on accoimt of being impregnated with resin. Its specific gravity, 

 when air dried, is from 0.524 to 0.769. It is employed somewhat for ship building, 

 construction purposes, railway ties, telegraph poles, piling, and mine props. It is 

 sawed into boards, planks, staves, lath, and boxboards. When used as fuel it gives a 



