WILD PINE OR SCOTCH FIR, 
75 
with, young stocks from the nursery : of all the Pines this species hears 
transplanting with, the least injury. It is seen flourishing on sandy wastes 
exposed to the saline vapors of the sea, and, which is more remarkable, on 
calcareous lands, a large tract of which in the Department of the Marne, 
called la Champagne pouilleuse , has begun within 40 years to be covered 
with it, after lying desert from time immemorial. The proprietors who 
first conceived this fortunate plan have already seen their barren grounds 
acquire a tenfold value. The oldest plantations yield seeds, which are 
disseminated by the winds and spring up spontaneously. After the first 
growth of evergreen trees, the soil becomes capable of sustaining the Birch, 
the Hornbeam, the Oaks, etc., which in time renders it proper for the 
production of cereal plants. In Belgium, large heaths have in this way 
been transformed into rich arable land. 
The culture of the Wild Pine has been found so profitable that seeds or 
young plants may everywhere be obtained at a moderate price. April is 
the most favorable season for sowing the seeds or removing the young 
stocks : 6 or 8 pounds of seed should be scattered upon an acre of ground 
previously sown with half the usual quantity of oats ; the roller suffices to 
cover them. The oats preserve a degree of coolness in the soil, and shelter 
the young Pines from the ardor of the sun ; but great care must be taken 
not to injure them in the harvest. 
The Wild Pine is so different from the White Pine in its foliage, the 
form of its cones and the quality of its wood, that no comparison can be 
instituted between them': it is more analogous to the Yellow Pine, to which 
however, it is superior. It might be most profitably cultivated on waste 
lands in the northern section of the United States. 
PLATE CXXXVIII. 
A branch with a cone of the natural size. Fig. 1, A leaf. Fig. 2, A seed. 
Fig. 3, Bostrichus piniperda, or Dermestes typographus, of the' natural size. 
Fig. 4, The same insect enlarged. 
