95 



such as the laurel, the box tree and the ink-berry, 

 which are evergreen and which do not belong to this 

 class. 



Most of the pines, including all which grow here- 

 abouts, require two years to ripen their seeds. The 

 flowers are of two sorts borne on the same tree. The 

 male flowers are generally on the lower branches of the 

 tree and they produce the pollen in great masses, which 

 is swept away far and near by the wind. It is this 

 wind-borne pollen which, drifting into little piles and 

 floating on ponds and streams, often at great distances 

 from the pine forests, is popularly known as sulphur 

 showers. 



The female flowers are usually at the top of the pine 

 trees. They stand erect until fertilized by the pollen 

 which must be blown upon them. They then turn down, 

 growing but very slightly until the spring of the next 

 year. Their development after this is quite rapid ; and 

 the seeds, of which two are hidden beneath each perfect 

 scale of the cone, are usually ripened by the middle 

 of September. This method of flowering and producing 

 fruit is essentially the same in all of the species of plants 

 of the class to which the pine belongs. 



Our white pine (Pinus strobus) is the finest among 

 the pines of this region. It forms the larger portion 

 of the coniferous woods in the county and is hardly 

 equalled in economic value by any other pine. The 

 tall tree among the other trees in the grounds of the old 

 Derby estate on Lafayette street is a white pine ; but, 

 of course, this specimen does not do justice to the 

 species. The largest pines in the county were cut, so 

 I understand, in Georgetown a few years ago. There 

 were but few of these trees and they were not far from 



