FOREST TREES AND FOREST SCENERY 
needles. The elegance of this habit 
in the white pine appears to advantage 
when we stand a little above it on a 
gentle slope and see the branches 
clearly defined against the surface of 
a lake below or some far-away gray 
cloud. 
Both in middle age and when it is 
old the white pine is a distinguished- 
looking tree. When young it is some- 
times elegantly symmetrical; but more 
often, owing to a crowded position, it 
lacks the air of neatness that belongs 
to a few of the other pines and to most 
of the firs. At maturity it is a very 
impressive tree, especially in the dense 
forest, where it develops a tall, dark, 
stately stem. In its declining years 
the branches begin to break and fall 
away, no longer able to bear the weight 
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