iumsden] THE WHITE PINE 353 



We find many poems about the pines. Who is not familiar 

 with the following lines from Longfellow's Evangeline? 



"This is the forest primeval, 

 The murmuring pines and the hemlocks 



Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight 

 Stand like druids of old with voices sad and prophetic, 

 Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms." 



The expression "Bearded with moss" is more than a poet's fancy 

 Tufts of gray moss are found on the trunk of all pines that grow 

 in the damp, close, northern woods. The thread of this moss is 

 round and fine like a hair, and a bunch of the moss constantly 

 suggests the gray beard of an old man. This moss plays an 

 important part in the domestic life of the northern Indians; it 

 is in this warm soft substance that the Indian babies are packed 

 for transportation on their cradle boards. Indian mothers go 

 out and gather this moss by the bushel. It feels like linen on the 

 tender flesh of the papoose. This moss being soft, resinous, 

 aseptic and porous makes the small brown baby swathed in it as 

 well off as his civilized neighbors in flannel and linen. 



Economically the White Pine has been of great value. For 

 years it was the chief lumber tree of the country; now it is very 

 scarce, due in part to the cutting of virgin forests. Then, too, 

 many white pines have been destroyed by forest fires. The White 

 Pine has been used for most everything from house furnishings to 

 the masts of ships. The wood is light, soft, straight-grained, 

 free from knots and nearly so from resin. The complete extermina - 

 tion of the White Pine will be prevented, however, for promising 

 young forests are springing up on many abandoned New England 

 farms where nothing else will grow. But the White Pine refuses 

 to grow on land devastated by fire. Horticulturally the White 

 Pine has been used extensively as an ornamental conifer. 



When the wind blows through the pines a sort of soft music is 

 heard, the like of which no other tree can produce. Many times 

 has the music of the pine been mentioned in poetry and the follow- 

 ing entitled "Under a Pine Tree" by F. W. Bourdillon is very 

 pleasing; this is given on page 349. 



