86 
CONIFERS. THE PINUS, OR PINE TREE. 
exposed places ; but for planting on the 
sides of hills, and for valleys, it is well fitted. 
For scenic effect, it would be difficult to 
select a better tree. Light and dai"kness are 
upon it in strongest contrast ; and in this re- 
spect, it is perhaps superior even to the better 
variety of Scotch pine. The very altitude of 
the tree gives it a commanding aspect, and it 
looks exceedingly well planted along with other 
pines, over which it rises in high towers. The 
wood is good for masts, though not equal to 
that of the P. sylvestris. When divested of 
the outside, or sap-wood, carpenters consider 
it equal to any other pine, and in its native 
countries, it is used by them in flooring, for 
beams, and for building purposes generally. 
The price of young plants is unreasonably 
high ; one shilling, and sometimes one shilling 
and sixpence being charged for each. This 
species is strongly recommended to the atten- 
tion of extensive planters, for there is no 
doubt that when large quantities are required, 
a proportionably low charge will be made. In 
the mean time, young shoots should be grafted 
on the tops of small plants of the Scotch pine ; 
a method of increasing the species which has 
been most successfully adopted by the French 
government. The mode of raising young 
plants from seeds, is exactly as detailed in the 
case of the Pinus sylcestris. 
This tree is particularly worthy of the at- 
tention of all those who wish speedily to confer 
a show of sylvan garniture about their resi- 
dences. In this respect it may accompany the 
willow, poplar, and larch. There are those 
again who complain that one man's life is too 
short to realize the full beauty of trees : this 
pine will obviate that objection, and become a 
high tree, strikinginthe landscape, inthecourse 
of twenty-five years. In cases whex'e it is ex- 
pected to grow very vigorously, trenching of 
the soil to the depth of at least two feet is 
absolutely necessary; and if strong stakes are 
put in to support the plants, it will add to 
their success. 
Varieties. — Nominally, the varieties of P. 
Laricio, are many. Continental catalogues 
are exceedingly apt to mislead planters, who 
have repeatedly found the same species under 
half a dozen different names. Such as are 
distinct are believed to be the two following : — 
P. L. corsicana, Delamarre. A tree grow- 
ing nearly as tall as the species, cones smaller, 
and of a tawny colour. 
P. L. caramanica, Bosc. Introduced into 
France by Olivier, in 1798. Throughout that 
country it bears the name of P. romana, 
which title is also adopted by the Horticultu- 
ral Society of London, in whose garden there 
is a fine specimen. Seeds which were sent by 
the late Mr. Loudon, to Methven Castle, pro- 
duced plants which grow more rapidly than 
the common Scotch fir, and the gardener there 
thinks that the tree may be found suitable to 
high districts throughout Scotland. This 
plant is more compact than the species, carry- 
ing a greater bulk of stem with it, and less 
subject to be operated upon by high winds. 
The leaves of this plant are rather straighter 
than in the species, and the buds and branches 
are of a redder colour. 
b. Scales of Cones Spiny at apex. 
13. Pinus Pinaster, Aiton (Cluster Pine). 
— Leaves, in pairs, very long, channelled, stiff, 
and of a darker green than those of the P. 
sylvestris. Cones in clusters, whorled, much 
shorter than the leaves, without footstalks, 
ovate, and about four inches long. Buds 
almost free from resin, woolly, and about 
three-quarters of an inch in length. A native 
of Italy, the southern parts of France, of 
Greece, Asia, and the Himalaya. The north 
of France and Germany do not possess it as 
an indigenous tree. It is very abundant in 
Spain, and is found in great perfection on the 
shores of the Mediterranean. 
The largest plantations of this tree in 
Britain, are at Westwick, in the county of 
Norfolk, on high, barren tracts of land, where 
it thrives remarkably well, and attains to a 
great bulk. These plantations were com- 
menced by J. Berney Petie, Esq., father of 
the present proprietor ; and in the Transac- 
tions of the Society for the Encouragement of 
Arts, appears the following communication 
relative to the planting of these trees. He 
says : " Having been a planter of firs and 
forest trees for more than fifty years upon a 
lai'ge scale, my friends have often solicited me 
to lay the particulars before your Society, as 
few in the kingdom have exceeded me in this 
pursuit. I am at length, induced to lay my 
labours before you in the following statement : — 
about thirty years ago, I planted in my 
park, and on the heath adjoining, about 200 
acres with different trees ; the soil of the 
latter was so poor that the Scotch firs which 
I chiefly appropriated to that place died after 
having been planted fifteen years, owing to 
the poverty of the soil and their exposed situ- 
ation. The pinaster, or cluster pine, has 
always been a favourite tree with me for the 
beauty of its foliage, and goodness of the 
timber. I have in my groves, I believe, 
some of the finest in the kingdom, estimated 
by Mr. Nathaniel Kent, of Craig's Court, a 
member of your Society, as containing five 
loads of timber in a tree, and upwards of 
eighty feet high ; it therefore occurred to me 
to raise some young plants from them, and 
when these plants were two years old, I filled 
up with these young pinasters the vacancies 
occasioned by the death of the Scotch firs, 
