oz 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



improving qualities; practically not capable of reproduction by sprouting from tho stocks or cuttings; mostly 

 periodical seeders; persistent growers. 



Pinks.— The most useful conifers and most important forest trees, mostly of the plain; reaching desirable 

 development in comparatively dry, even barren, situations. Mostly needing light; tolerably rapid growers; best 

 on light sandy soils with clay subsoil. 



Characteristics.— Leaves arranged in twos, threes, or fives in one sheath; cones with thickened scales: seeds 

 almond-shaped, nut-like, of mottled appearance, with their wings only lightly attached; maturing the second year, 

 and preserving their germinating power well. Sixty to seventy species, of which thirty-five are indigenous to the 

 United states. 



Wood.— Yery variable, very light and soft in "soft" pine, such as white pine; of medium weight to heavy and 

 quite hard in "hard" pine, of which L»ongleaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiff, quite strong, 

 of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sap wood is yellowish- white; the heartwood, orange-brown. Pine 

 shrinks moderately, seasons rapidly and without much injury; it works easily; is never too hard to nail (unlike oak 

 or hickory); it is mostly quite durable, and if well seasoned is not subject to the attacks of boring insects. The 

 heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, and the more it shrinks and checks. Pine is used more 

 extensively than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common carpentry, as well as in all heavy 

 construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is also used in almost every other wood industry, for spars, masts, planks, 

 and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furniture work, 

 for toys and patterns, railway tics, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large trees with few branches, the 

 straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatesst part of the tree; they occur in vast forests, a fact 

 which greatly facilitates their utilization. 



List of one hundred species of trees of the United States most valuable for timber, with notes on their ran ft e of distribution, 



cultural requirements, and the character and nses of their wood. 



Name of species and limit of size. 



1. WHITE PII\E 



(Pinus strobus Linn.) 



Height, 120 feet -f ; diameter, 

 3 feet -+ . 



2. RED PINE 



Regions of abundant growth. 



(Norway Pine.) 



(Pinus resinosa xlit.) 



Height, 100 feet + ; diamcu r 

 2| feet -h 



3. PITCH PINE 



(Pinus rigida Miller.) 



Height, 50 feet -f; diameter, 

 l$"feot+. 



4. JACK PINE , 



(Scrub Pine. Prince's Pine.) 



(Pinus divarkata (Ait.) Gord.) 



Height, GO feet-l-; diameter, 

 1 foot -+■ . 



5. SCRUB PIXE 



(Pinus viryiniana Mill.) 



Height, 80 feet -f ; diameter, 



2 teet ~\- . 



6. LONGLKAF PINE 



(Southern Pine. Yell o w 

 Pine. Georgia Pine. Hard 

 Pine.) 



(Pinus palustris Miller.) 



Height, 100 feet-f: diam- 

 eter, 2| feet + . 



Northern; wide range, forming 

 forests to Southern mountains. 



Best development in region of the 

 Great Lakes. 



Northern ; associated mostly with 

 "White Pine. 



Greatest development from Michi- 

 gan to Minnesota. 



Northoastern and Middle Atlantic 



States. 



Soil and climate, and characteristics of growth. 



Northern (in Fnited States), form- 

 ing iorests far north. 



Greatest development north ot 

 Lake Superior. 



Middle Atlantic reiriou 



South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



7. SHORTLfiAF PINE, 



(Bull Pine. Yellow Pine. 

 Spruce Pine.) 



(Pinus echinata Miller.) 



Height, 90 feet-|- ; diameter, 

 2 feet +. 



Middle Atlantic and Southern 

 States; associated mostly with 

 hardwood trees. 



Best development in western Lou- 

 isiana, southern Arkansas, and 

 eastern Texas. 



Best on light, sandy, fresh, deep soil, but successful on a large 

 range of soils ifom dry to moist. Itapid grower; endures 

 some shade; hardy, hut* little tolerant of drought. 



The mo&t important conifer of the United States; good quality, 

 however, only in centenarians. Is best mixed with deciduous 

 trees; of rather slow, but high percentage of germination; 

 plant one or two-year-old transplanted seedlings, or sow. 



Soils like those of White Pine; adapted to many soils, but best 

 quality of timber produced in well-drained sands. Extremely 

 hardy ; rigorous and rapid grower. 



Should be favored in northern and northeastern planting with 

 White Pine and deciduous trees. So far, seed very expensive 

 and difficult to obtain. 



Best on fresh to moist sand, but will succeed on dry, barren,, 

 sandy, or rocky soils, and even on wet, cold, swampy ground, 

 or seacoasts liable to floods. 



A rapid grower, and when young hardy and indifferent" to 

 drought; light-needing; an' early seeder; sprouts from the 

 stump; not easily transplanted; best and easily propagated 

 from seed; mainly for seacoaU planting. 



Common on sandy, barren soil. 



Valuable only as first cover for northern pine-barrens. Rapid 

 grow er in its youth and easily handled ; very hardy, enduring 

 heat and cold'well; successful on the plains. 



Common on poor, dry, sandy, gravelly, and clayey soils ; less 

 tiequent in rich soils. Moderately rapid grower, quickly 

 taking possession of old, worn-out fields and washed lands. 



Well-drained, loos**, deep sandy loam or gravel. 



The blow growth of first five years (quasi endogenous) makes 

 its forestry problematic; development dependent on atmos- 

 pheric moisture; least shade-enduring of pines. 



Rare, but plentiful seeder; germinates freely; can therefore be 

 propagated by sowing seed in permanent place. 



Most valuable pine of the South, but for best quality requires 

 long period of growth (two hundred years I). 



More common on light sandy soil than on low borders of 

 swamps. 



A rather slow grower; will succeed on the poorest soil. Easily 

 reproduced; good seeder; light-needing. 



