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lived. Sixty years is a maximum age and thirty feet an average 

 height. Seventy feet may occasionally be attained. But it has 

 distinct value in its ability to withstand conditions where other 

 trees would fail, particularly on dry and sandy soils. It is fre- 

 quently used for reclamation work on such sites and is one of 

 the first trees to return naturally to burned-over and denuded 

 areas. It is drought-resistant and the most intolerant of shade 

 among our northeastern pines. Though it thrives on very dry sites 

 by extending its roots several feet after water, it may also live in 

 swampy land. Its growth rate, moreover, is considerably greater 

 than that of any other pine in its region, another feature that 

 recommends it for reclamation use. 



The light, soft, and weak wood of the Jack Pine has little lum- 

 ber value. It has, however, entered into the manufacture of 

 various secondary products. The Indians used it in making canoes. 



The two most distinguishing features of the Jack Pine pertain 

 to the leaves and cones. The former are in groups of twos ; they 

 diverge and are the shortest needles found on any native pine, 

 being about one inch in length. The mass effect of all the diverg- 

 ing needles on a well-covered branch is very characteristic. The 

 cones, up to two inches in length, are generally curved or lop- 

 sided, bear no stem and persist for many years, sometimes twelve 

 to fifteen, and remain unopened for a great period. The result 

 usually is a tree laden with a mass of crooked cones, some wide 

 open, others tightly shut. 



The Jack Pine, known also as Gray, Banks' and Banksian Pine, 

 is the hardiest of American pines, penetrating farther north than 

 any other pine and rivaled by few other trees. It extends to within 

 one and a half degrees of the Arctic Circle as a low and dwarfed 

 shrub. In fact, it is almost transcontinental in distribution, reach- 

 ing from Nova Scotia across Canada to the southeast corner of 

 the Yukon region. It is, therefore, distinctly northern, though it 

 extends southward to the southern shores of Lake Michigan. Its 

 dwarfness in its most northern reaches is a feature shared by all 

 trees that have such an extended range. They all become stunted 

 in high latitudes as well as in high altitudes. 



