CHAPTER XXXIV. 



PINES — {Continued). 



AMERICAN PITCH PINE (Pinus rigidd). 



This tree, which must be distinguished from the very 

 different Pinus Australis called Pitch Pine in the 

 Southern States, is found spread over a wide tract of 

 country lying between the Penobscot and the Mississippi 

 rivers in North America. It is of erect and almost 

 perfectly straight growth, and may be readily dis- 

 tinguished from the Pines hitherto considered by its 

 leaves being in threes, by the rigidity and sharp edges 

 of the scales of the cones, by the extreme roughness 

 of its bark, and by the density of the brushes of its stiff 

 and crowded leaves. It requires a good supply of 

 moisture to bring it to the greatest perfection, and 

 flourishes well on a sandy soil if mixed with loam. 



The Southern States produce the best spars for 

 masts, square timber, and plank, and these are shipped 

 to this country chiefly from the ports of Savannah, 

 Darien, and Pensacola, in the States of South Carolina, 

 Georgia, and Alabama. The mast-pieces are generally 

 of moderate dimensions, and take the place of Riga 

 or Dantzic spars of i8 to i6 hands, whenever there 

 is any difiSculty in procuring either of those descriptions, 

 and except that the Pitch Pine has a greater specific 

 gravity, there is little to prevent it from being used 

 more extensively than hitherto, in lieu of the Baltic Firs. 



