16 



THE WHITE PINE 



sand, and in the better parts to sandy loam. 

 The slopes are generally covered with flat sand- 

 stone rocks. When the forest is removed, and 

 the fires run over the ground, the little soil that 

 once existed is burned and washed away, and 

 a barren mass of rocks is left to receive the 

 seed of the few straggling unsound trees left 

 standing by the choppers. In the valleys and 

 on many of the mountain-tops, where the soil 

 is a fresh sandy loam, uncultivated and unpas- 

 tured land is almost immediately clothed with 

 a forest growth of Pine and hardwoods. In 

 such soils the White Pine attains an admirable 

 development. 



The remark may here be made that the White 

 Pine, in favorable localities, retains its growth 

 to a great age. Thus a number of trees stand- 

 ing on good soils were measured, and found to 

 be growing in height four to five inches a year 

 at the age of two hundred years. These trees were 

 still adding to their volume from 1.3 to 1.5 cu- 

 bic feet of wood per annum. In one case a tree 

 was found to be growing at the rate of nearly 

 two cubic feet of wood annually at two hundred 

 years of age. 



In general. White Pine thrives on a great va- 

 riety of soils. It is found on the poorest, dri- 

 est sand, on steep, rocky slopes, on the rich 



