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THE STONE PINE. 



rather to the Italian form of the tree than to spe- 

 cimens which he has seen in Britain : — The Stone 

 Pine promises httle in its infancy in point of pic- 

 turesque beauty. It does not, like most of the 

 Fir species, give an early indica- 

 tion of its future form. In its 

 youth it is dwarfish and round- 

 headed, with a short stem, and 

 has rather the shape of a full- 

 grown bush than of an increasing 

 tree. As it grows older, it does 

 not soon lay aside its formal shape. 

 It is long a bush, though some- 

 what more irregular, and with a 

 longer stem; but as it attains 

 maturity, its picturesque form 

 increases fast. Its lengthening 

 stem assumes commonly an easy 

 sweep. It seldom, indeed, de- 

 viates much from a straight line, 

 but that gentle deviation is very 

 graceful, and above all lines dif- 

 ficult to imitate. If accidentally 

 either the stem or any of the 

 larger branches take a larger 

 sweep than usual, the sweep 

 seldom fails to be graceful. It 

 is also among the beauties of the 

 Stone Pine, that, as the lateral branches decay, 

 they leave generally stumps, which, standing out 

 in various parts of the stem, break the continuity 

 of its lines. The bark is smoother than that of 

 any other tree of the Pine kind, except the Wey- 

 mouth ; though we do not esteem this among its 

 picturesque beauties. Its hue, however, which is 



