CHAP. cxin. coni'feiue. pi x nus. 2171 



imports his own timber, is the owner of pine and fir forests, in Norway, of 

 20,000 acres in extent. 



Artificial plantations of the Scotch pine have been made to a great extent, 

 not only in Britain, but in France and Germany, during the present century. 

 From 1780 or 1790, to 1815, many thousands of seedlings of Scotch pines 

 were sent by the nurserymen of Aberdeen and Edinburgh to the English 

 nurserymen and proprietors, and more particularly to the proprietors of 

 estates in Wales. These trees were planted, not always with a view of 

 producing timber, but rather for the purpose of sheltering other trees which 

 were considered of greater value, such as the oak, &c. Both in Scotland 

 and in England, also, plantations of Scotch pine were formed solely for the 

 purpose of being cut down as a crop at the end of 25 or 30 years ; when 

 the produce was disposed of for local purposes, and the ground afterwards 

 either planted with broad-leaved trees, subjected to the plough, or laid down 

 in pasture. At the present time, the Scotch pine is still in general use as a 

 tree for sheltering others, especially the oak (see p. 1800.), and also for the 

 sake of its timber; and, for the latter purpose, the red-wooded or Highland 

 variety is generally planted, at least in Scotland. 



Poetical Allusions. The pine mentioned by the Roman poets was probably 

 P. Pinea; but that of Milton is, no doubt, the P. sylvestris : — Speaking of 

 the fallen angels, he says, — 



" Faithful how they stood, 

 Their glory wither'd ; as when Heaven's fire 

 Hath scathed the forest oaks, or mountain pines, 

 With singed top, their stately growth, though bare, 

 Stands on the blasted heath." 



Sir Walter Scott, also, mentions the Scotch pine in the following lines : — 



" And higher yet the pine tree hung 

 His shatter'd trunk, and frequent flung 

 Where seem'd the cliffs to meet on high 

 His boughs athwart the narrow 'd sky." 



Churchill, with reference to the growth of the Scotch pine in various soils 

 and situations, says, — 



" That pine of mountain race, 



The fir, the Scotch fir, never out of place. 



Wordsworth has frequent allusions to this tree : — 



" Unheeded night has overcome the vales : 

 On the dark earth the baffled vision fails : 

 The latest lingerer of the forest train, 

 The lone black fir forsakes the faded plain." Vol. i. p. 67. 



" And there I sit at evening, when the steep 

 Of Silver-how, and Grasmere's placid lake, 

 And one green island, gleam between the stems 

 Of the dark firs — a visionary scene." Vol. ii. p. 279. 



" While o'er my head, 



At every impulse of the moving breeze," 



The fir grove murmurs with a sea-like"sound, 



Alone I tread this path." Vol. ii. p. 280. 



Keats, also, appears to allude to this tree, when he says : — 



—— " Fir trees grow around, 

 Aye dropping their hard fruit upon the ground." 



Properties and Uses. So much has been said on the uses of the pine and 

 fir tribe generally, in our introduction to the ^fbietinae (p. 2123.), that we 

 have only here to notice such uses as are peculiar to the species before us. 

 It is universally allowed, that the timber of the Scotch pine makes the best 

 masts for ships ; and, indeed, we are not aware of any use to which the timber 

 of the genus Pinus is applicable, that that of the Scotch pine will not fulfil. 

 All the resinous products common to the pine and fir tribe may be obtained 

 from it, and this is the case in the north of Europe; but, in Britain, the tree 

 is seldom used for any other purpose than for timber. The timber of this 

 species, when grown in a suitable soil and situation, is fit for being employed 

 in construction, when from 80 to 100 years of age, at which age the trunk will 



