158 A MANUAL OF THE CONIFEEJI. 



growing deciduous trees. Its rate of growth in the climate of London, 

 according to Loudon, is from 20 to 25 feet in ten years, and from 

 40 to 50 feet in twenty years. 



The economic value of the Scotch Pine, as a timber tree, is probably 

 not surpassed, in the aggregate, by that of any other tree known. It 

 supplies the yellow deal of commerce, the staple article of trade with 

 many of the Baltic and other ports of northern Europe. Although 

 highly valued as a timber tree in this country, the quality of the 

 timber of home grown trees is inferior to that imported from northern 

 Europe — it is coarser in grain, and much less durable. This inferiority 

 is believed to be due to climatal causes ; the long and severe winters 

 of the north are succeeded by short and hot summers, and under 

 these conditions the trees have periods of rest and activity in their 

 growth which they do not get in the more equable climate of Great 

 Britain, and the texture of their wood is affected in a corresponding 

 degree. 



The following Pines, belonging to this Section, cannot be recom- 

 mended for arboricultural purposes in England : — 



Pinus Banksiana. — A low, scrubby, straggling tree with tortuous 

 trunk and branches, which are sparingly furnished with short greyish 

 green leaves; it attains a height of from 5 to 8 feet in its native 

 country, but somewhat more in Great Britain. It is the outcast of 

 the family banished to the dreary and inhospitable Labrador and 

 neighbouring countries. 



Pinus mops. — An inelegant straggling tree 25 to 40 feet high, 

 with spreading or drooping branches ; the young shoots are covered 

 , with a purplish glaucous bloom ; the leaves are short and glaucous, 

 and the scales of the cones tipped with sharp prickles. Pound on 

 sterile and barren hills from New Jersey southward to Kentucky. 

 It is known in America as the Scrub Pine.* 



Pinus mitis. — An erect tree from 50 to 60 feet high, producing, 

 durable, fine-grained, moderately resinous timber, valuable for flooring ; 

 the leaves are from 2 to 3 inches long, soft, slender, and dark dull 

 green. It is a native of the northern New England States and west- 

 ward as far as Wisconsin; also common southwards as far as Georgia.! 

 In America it is called the Yellow Pine. 



Pinus pungens— A tree 40 to 50 feet high, with the habit and 

 general appearance of the Scotch Pine ; the leaves are short, stout, 

 much crowded, and bluish green; the scales of the cones are armed 

 with a strong hooked spine. Found on the Alleghany Mountains; 



* Botany of the United States, by Dr. Asa Gray, p. 470, f Idem. 



