(17) 



tapping. In fact, next to Cedrus Deodara, the Deodar, this Bhutan 

 Pine, as it is sometimes called, is the most important coniferous 

 tree of its region. The roots yield an oil used to anoint the arms 

 and legs of natives as a protection against water insects while they 

 work in the wet rice fields. During the dry winter seasons there 

 is a copious sweet manna-like exudation from the leaves which is 

 collected and eaten by the natives. 



This species, with five needles in a cluster, is distinguished from 

 all other pines of that class by its large horizontal lower branches 

 and long drooping needles. These two features will become more 

 apparent when we meet larger trees in Section 4. There we shall 

 see that because of the persistence of the lower limbs that hang 

 close to the ground and turn up at their tips this tree must be given 

 plenty of room in ornamental planting. The pendent leaves that 

 droop from the lower limbs of mature trees are especially 

 attractive. 



All the remaining eleven pine trees in this immediate area as 

 far as the road ahead of us, including one that is separated from 

 all the others by the diagonal row of three Himalayan White- 

 Pines, are 



Pinus Strobus, the Eastern White-Pine 



This is the only five-needle pine native to the eastern United 

 States, where since the advent of the Pilgrims it has been the 

 most valuable forest tree. The vast forests of it that once cov- 

 ered the northeastern section of the country as well as a good part 

 of the Lake States were the bulwarks of this country's early 

 industries. But these vast forests no longer remain, for they have 

 for the most part fallen before the axe. From 1620 to 1840, white 

 pine was the chief timber of New England, and during that period 

 the reserve was reduced from 400 billion board feet to 10 billion 

 feet, a reduction of 97^2%. In 1892, after lumbering had shifted 

 to the wonderful white pine forests of the Lake States, 10 billion 

 feet were cut and since then the annual production has steadilv 

 decreased. This gives some idea of the inroads that have been 

 made on a great natural resource. 



