INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN IN SCHOOL OF FORESTRY. 149 



pinaster), grown at the Cape of Good Hope, and they have several 

 characterstics in common. By some these trees are considered 

 varieties of one species. 



Much valuable information in regard to the natural history and 

 artificial culture of this tree is given in the volume just cited by 

 M. Eloi Samanos, Membre de la Socidte a" Agriculture des Landes.* 

 But the treatment of the subject in that volume is complete in itself ; 

 and 1 deem it more expedient to refer the student to this in its 

 entirety than to cite passages apart from the connection in which 

 they occur ; and I give here information I have gleaned from other 

 sources. 



The following is the information embodied in the " Oours eUmen- 

 taire de Culture de Bois," at the School of Forestry at Nancy : 



" Le Pin Maritime, the maritime pine (Pinus maritima, Lanark) 

 forms portions of considerable forests in the Landes in Provence, in 

 Languedoc, and in Corsica. 



" Climate, Situation, and Exposure. — Although this tree belongs 

 more especially to warm climates, it is nevertheless cultivated 

 successfully in the western Departments of France ; but if it be 

 exposed to frosts it does not live long, and the wood is worthless, 

 its height and size are curtailed, and its usefulness is impaired. 

 This is the case with sowings of it made at Fontainbleau, and in the 

 suburbs or neighbourhood of Paris. There is no doubt that the 

 maritime pine could not be acclimatised if planted farther north, as it 

 is very sensitive to cold. 



" In a suitable temperature it thrives on plains, on hills, or even on 

 mountains of medium height. Its tap-root and lateral roots give it a 

 strong hold of the ground, and enable it to resist storms which make 

 it so much the more useful on the sea-shore, where it is planted 

 extensively. 



" Soil. — The maritime pine will grow on poor soil provided there be 

 depth enough. It will even thrive very well on pure quartz sand, 

 such as is brought down by rivers or heaped up on the sea-shore. 

 Stiff and marshy soils are injurious to it. 



" Flower and Fruit. — The blossom is monooceous. It flowers in 

 March and April in the South of France, and in May in more temperate 

 regions. The seed is larger than that of the Scotch fir, and is furnished 

 with a wing proportionate to its size ; it is ripe about the same time 

 as that seed, and it also falls at the same season. 



* TraiU de la Culture du Pin Maritime, 



