PINETUM DANICUM, 



373 



of its wood do not last more than six or seven years, the timber being 

 liable to rot if exposed to the weather ; while, on the other hand, if 

 protected, it is well adapted for housebuilding purposes, although for 

 shipbuilding and spars it is almost useless, as it resists so badly the 

 effects of the weather, and is so soft ; but the quality of its timber 

 differs more, perhaps, than that of any other Pine, in consequence of its 

 growing in high or low situations. The forests near Almorah, at an 

 elevation of 4,500 feet, produce excellent timber for domestic purposes, 

 under the name of " Surul " (straight), either from the tall, straight, 

 branchless stems of old trees, or from the woody fibre rending freely 

 and quite straight in the grain. In the Sanscrit dialect it is called 

 ^'Tanshing," or " Tansa " (Needle-tree), on account of its long, 

 needle-like leaves. The seeds are eaten in India. 



This species attains a height of from 60 to 100 feet, and is con- 

 fined in a great measure to the outer or lower ranges of the mountains, 

 commencing as low as 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is rarely, 

 if ever, found at a greater elevation than 7,000 feet, but appears to have 

 a very great power of enduring variations of climate, for it seems 

 equally at home in the hot, damp valleys of Sikkim as on the dry, 

 stony hills of the Punjab, where rain hardly ever falls, and it is at all 

 seasons exposed to a powerful and scorching sun. It is very common 

 throughout the whole region of the Punjab, and as far to the east as 

 Bhotan, occurring at all intermediate altitudes, and where, from the 

 diversity of climate and different aspects in which it grows, it is known 

 under various names. It also abounds in all the lower and outer 

 ranges of the Himalayas, from Bhotan to Afghanistan. Dr. Griffith 

 describes it as descending in Bhotan to the low elevation of 1,800 or 

 2,000 feet above the sea, while on the ranges between the Jumna and 

 Sutlej it is abundant at from 2,500 to 3,000 feet of elevation, and 

 finally it becomes stunted, and disappears at Simla, at an elevation of 

 7,000 feet, but occurs in greatest perfection and abundance at Kamaon 

 and Gurhwal, north of the Pindur, at from 2,500 to 7,000 feet of 

 elevation, which places seem little else than one great forest of the 

 Cheer Pine. It has a rough bark, divided by deep fissures into large 

 and longish plates, and the stems of the larger trees are about 12 feet 

 in girth, with a clear stem 40 or 50 feet from the ground, and with an 

 exceedingly picturesque head, very irregular in outline, as the branches 

 are irregularly and thinly scattered. A large quantity of tar and 

 turpentine is extracted from the wood, and the chips are used for 

 candles in India, and called "Chamsing" (night-lights) ; and, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Hooker, ink is made in Sikkim from the charcoal of the 

 burnt leaves mixed with rice-water (G. Gordon, " The Pinetum "). 



The wood is made into charcoal. Weight of wood 37 to 45 lbs. per 

 cubic foot (F. M, Bagley, " Cat. of Plants, Brisbane Bot. Gardens"). 



It has been wintered indoors in Denmark. One plant, however, 

 exposed out of doors does not appear to have suffered. 



