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aversion of pines toward excessive moisture. The former will 

 thrive in a swamp as well as on upland gravel and the latter makes 

 magnificent trees in the southern swamplands. The Pitch Pine, 

 too, is at home both in wet and dry places. The Scrub Pine of 

 the West, Finns contorta, as well as the Cuban Pine, P. caribaea, 

 and the Pond Pine, P. scrotina, of the South, likewise seem indif- 

 ferent to water conditions about their roots. 



It must be borne in mind when combining pines with other trees 

 in any setting that they are essentially light-demanding trees. Con- 

 sequently, they will not endure overtopping or crowding unless 

 by vigorous height growth they can extend above more shade- 

 enduring competitors. If planted thickly in pure stands they will 

 either soon lose their lower limbs and maintain a marked uniform- 

 ity or the more vigorous trees will crowd out the others. The five- 

 needle white pines, particularly Pinus Strobus, are the most toler- 

 ant and the dwarf Mugho Pine is markedly so too. 



In respect to rapidity of height growth the leaders are the com- 

 mon White Pine, P. Strobus, Cuban, P. caribaea, Scotch, P. syl- 

 vestris, and Austrian Pine, P. nigra. Under favorable conditions 

 these will produce annual shoots of from one to two feet for a 

 number of years. Pines of high altitude, on the other hand, are 

 slow growers ; e.g., Swiss Stone-Pine, P. Cembra. 



In the matter of maximum height growth the common White 

 Pine again is a leader. Before the days of excessive lumbering 

 many of these trees exceeded 150 feet in height. This height is 

 exceeded among the pines only by that of the very closely related 

 western Sugar Pines and Western Yellow-Pines, which may be- 

 come over 200 feet tall. Most others as a rule remain under 100 

 feet and the big majority seldom become over fifty feet tall. 



While the pines as a whole may be inferior to the firs and 

 spruces for ornamental purposes, they are unsurpassed as a group 

 in the lumber world. No other trees of the temperate zone have 

 contributed so much to the development of civilization in modern 

 times as they. The common White Pine has long been regarded 

 as the American wood par excellence. Its rapidity and quantity 

 of production, its adaptability to variations of climate and soil, 

 and the excellence of its wood have placed it in the lead. Reduced 



