So far we have been concerned entirely with timbers 

 yielded by Dicotyledons, but there are many valuable 

 timbers derived from the class of Conifers, of which the 

 Pines and Firs are the most important. The principal 

 feature about these woods is their freedom from true 

 vessels, and their consisting of tracheids only ; conse- 

 quently their structure is very uniform, and, since true 

 fibres are absent, on the whole soft and even in texture. 

 It is, in fact, principally due to this uniformity of struc- 

 ture and soft, even texture that Coniferous woods are so 

 valuable ; and when, as so often occurs, these woods 

 abound in resinous substances, which aid them in 

 resisting water and other destructive agents, we realise 

 that the great value of Coniferous timbers consists 

 principally in their combining the properties of lightness 

 and softness, which render them easy to work, with a 

 fair amount of durability. 



Nevertheless, Coniferous woods differ very much in 

 the degrees in which these valuable properties are com- 

 bined, not only in the various species, but even in the 

 same timber grown under different conditions. 



The following are the more important European 

 species. 



