OUR NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CONIFERS. 55 



formed, then the limbs fall and it shoots upward straight as 

 an arrow. The grand forests of the South are being rapidly- 

 cut away but the young trees spring up in haste to take their 

 places. ' There is one trouble, I understand, with the young trees. 

 Tlie southern razor-backed hog is always ravenous and he must 

 eat and it takes a great deal to fill him up, and if he can find 

 nothing else he will root out and devour the young Pine. This 

 voracious shark of the forests seems to have the right-of-way 

 at the South and is about as heedless as the white man and 

 makes no more of destroying a young forest than would a North- 

 ern lumberman. He seems to be doing for the South what the 

 other is doing for the North, and between the two they form an 

 anti-forest trust that is doing a large amount of business. 



The lumber from the Long Leaved Pine is largely used for 

 framing, ceiling and flooring. It Is hard and wears well. Tur- 

 pentine is made from this tree. All along a system of tree 

 butchery has been used which kills the tree. But recently, gov- 

 ernment experts have come to the rescue with a system which, 

 while it secures the sap, saves the tree, and we saw many fine 

 groves in a thrifty condition, which on inspection showed they 

 had been tapped without material injury. It is a great pity 

 that we cannot move such a beautiful and valuable tree to the 

 North. But it cannot be done; the air in winter is too dry and 

 it is too cold. 



The Short Leaved Pine — Pinus Echlnata presents quite a 

 contrast to the Palustris. It is, however, a thrifty, vigorous 

 tree. 



The Loblolly Pine — PInus Taeda. This is one of the most vi- 

 gorous and enterprising of trees. It seems overflowing with 

 vitality and is very thrifty and aggressive. It is a more rapid 

 grower than the Long Leaved Pine. The timber is not very 

 durable but recently the government has been giving it a 

 chemical treatment which promises to make it valuable for 

 railroad ties. By the way, many experiments are being made, 

 especially in Europe, so that worthless timber like the Beech 

 can be made to last twenty or thirty years. A process will 

 doubtless soon be found for extending the durability of the 

 Pines and even the cottonwoods. The growing scarcity of tim- 

 ber enhances the work of the chemist. 



