51 



commercial objects ; but when it was transplanted 

 to Germany it came into conflict with three soft 

 and strong coniferous timbers of the highest class, 

 namely, pine, fir, and spruce. The opinion as to 

 its wood here is, of course, quite different. As 

 regards size and growing capacity it excels the 

 indigenous pine, and, as a matter of fact, is 

 better at first than both spruce and fir, but 

 as time advances it is surpassed by the two 

 kinds of wood just mentioned. The shape of 

 the trunk is more favourable than in the case 

 of the common pine, but according to Pro- 

 fessor Endres,' is less favourable than that 

 of spruce and fir. As regards the timber-pro- 

 ducing quality of the wood, it must be said 

 that this pine wood is much lighter as regards 

 weight than all the rest of European conifers, and 

 is easier for working up. The heart of this tree is 

 as hard as that of the pine, and far harder than 

 that of the fir and spruce, because the heart or 

 core, like all trees, only develops even in the case 

 of these firs after a number of years, so that a 

 comparison of the wood of young Weymouth 

 pines to that of older pines and firs is not 

 admissible. The resinous contents are far in 

 excess of all native firs, spruce, and pines. This 

 is the collective judgment about Weymouth pine, 

 taken from the very comprehensive mass of 



' Wachstum und Ertrag der Weymouthskiefer. " A. F. u. 

 J.," 1890, p. 206. 



