32 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



altitudes ranging from 300 to 500 feet above the 

 sea, where thirty years ago extensive plantations 

 were formed, although used to a very limited ex- 

 tent, it may be seen above any of the other trees, 

 boldly facing the south-western blasts, which, at 

 times, sweep along the hill sides with terrific fury." 



A like encouraging report was sent by Lord 

 Powerscourt to Woods and Forests some years ago, 

 and he now writes again in high praise of its con- 

 tinuous success in Wicklow, after a trial of many 

 years. Mr. J. Dempson, writing as to N. England : 

 " You may safely plant Corsicans up to 1,000 feet 

 anywhere in Britain as far as I have seen — no 

 matter how poor the soil is or thin, provided it is 

 dry." So that we have every reason for believing 

 that it is the tree of trees for the adornment of the 

 hills and shores of our islands, as one cannot well 

 have more diversified conditions than those that 

 obtain in a southern county like Sussex, in Northern 

 England, on the Welsh coast, and on the Irish hills, 

 success being marked in all. 



Varieties of the Corsican Pine. — According to the 

 books there are several varieties of this Pine, but 

 these are mostly based on comparisons of dried 

 plants in herbaria, and the men who write the books 

 do not always take the trouble to see the living 

 tree. Such questions as stature, colour, soils, quality 

 of timber, hardiness, quickness of growth, they 

 rarely mention, merely labelling the specimen as a 

 variety, because it resembles something else in the 

 herbarium ; and this way is called " science " in the 

 language of the day, while observations on the essen- 

 tials mentioned above are called by another name. 

 If we stand in a field planted with the hardiest 

 Pines we could scarcely find two more unlike than 

 the Corsican and the Austrian Pines, which are very 

 often grouped together as varieties. From the plan- 

 ter's point of view nothing could be more erroneous 

 or misleading. It is not unlikely that other kinds 

 grouped under this name may also be distinct from 

 our point of view ; what, however, is clear now is 

 that there are two forms of this grand Pine. The 

 Calabrian and the Corsican are both Pines of the 

 highest value. It is just possible that thorough 

 knowledge of the Calabrian would make it also 

 distinct as a species ; but of its value we have no 

 doubt whatever. 



The Calabrian form is less planted in Britain, 

 because good seeds and growing plants are not 

 easy to obtain ; but this surely will not always be 

 so, as South Italy is no longer, we hope, in the hands 

 of brigands. It was introduced into France by M. 

 L. de Vilmorin about 1820, but has not yet taken 

 the place in forest cultivation which its merits en- 

 title it to. Its properties are of the first order ; it 

 is second to none as regards size ; almost cylindri- 

 cal in form, it is without lateral branches. During 



visits to Des Barres we were struck by the fact that 

 the Calabrian Pines were, amongst conifers of the 

 same age, those which showed the finest growth and 

 the greatest amount of wood. The foliage is some- 

 what stronger, and less twisted than that of the 

 Corsican form, and its branches are, if anything, 

 stronger, but without showing any tendency to de- 

 velopment at the expense of the trunk. Its shade is 

 thicker than that of the Corsican Pine, and it adds 

 the rapid growth and good form of the Corsican 

 to the hardiness of the Austrian. Unfortunately 

 it is not easy to obtain. Its seed is scarce, expen- 

 sive, and often unproductive, so that the plants are 

 rare. 



Quality of Timber. — The timber value of this 

 noble tree has to be considered, but as most of our 

 plantations in Britain are not mature, we have to 

 seek the testimony of those who know the tree in 

 its native state. 



The wood of the mature Corsican Pine is con- 

 sidered as good, and, in Central and Southern 

 Europe, in conditions resembling somewhat those 

 of its native habitat, is to be preferred to that of the 

 Scotch Fir, which is in far less congenial surround- 

 ings there. The value of the Corsican Pine in 

 shipbuilding is great ; the wood is fine and close 

 in grain, and the stem perfectly straight, the resin 

 abundant. According to Matthieu (Flore Forestiere), 

 the timber of the Corsican Pine is white in very 

 abundant layers, and varies from a rose red to a 

 brown red according to its position. The autumn 

 tissue of each layer is clearly marked and of rela- 

 tively great thickness. The resin ducts are very 

 plainly seen, and contain a thick turpentine, which, 

 by filtering through the tissues and impregnating 

 them with abundant resin, often renders the wood 

 as hard and translucid as horn. The wood has a 

 fine close grain. The timber of thisPine is excellent 

 for building. The evenness of its annual growths, 

 joined to the fine dimensions which it attains to, 

 gave rise to a hope that, like P. sylvestris, it would 

 furnish masts of the first size, but experience has 

 not justified this hope. The wood of the Corsican 

 Pine is too much charged with resin and too heavy ; 

 its fibre is short, as is proved by numerous small 

 cracks produced by desiccation ; it is wanting in sup- 

 pleness and is brittle. The French naval authorities 

 have for these reasons refused to use it for masts, 

 for which purpose it is used in the Italian marine. 

 This excess of resin where it exists also renders the 

 wood less valuable for industrial purposes ; yet it 

 furnishes planks for the Toulon Arsenal, and there 

 is no doubt it makes excellent and lasting sleepers 

 for railways. 



The qualities of the Corsican timber are, besides, 

 variable, and an attentive study of the circumstances 

 — formerly little known — which determine these 



