WHITE PINE. 
95 
wrought, are of this wood. It receives gilding well, and is therefore 
selected for looking-glass and picture frames. Sculptors employ it exclu- 
sively for the images that adorn the bows of vessels, for which they prefer 
the varièty called Pumpkin Pine. 
At Boston, and in other towns of the Northern States, the inside of 
Mahogany' furniture, and of trunks, the bottom of Windsor chairs of an 
inferior quality, water-pails, a great part of the boxes used for packing 
goods, the shelves of shops, and an endless variety of other objects, are 
made of White Pine. 
In the District of Maine it is employed for barrels to contain salted fish, 
especially the variety called Sapling Pine , which is of a stronger consis- 
tence- For the magnificent wooden bridges over the Schuylkill at Phila- 
delphia and the Delaware at Trenton ; and for those which unite Cambridge 
and Charlestown with Boston, of which the first is 1,500, and the second 
3,000 feet in length, the White Pine has been chosen for its durability. 
It serves exclusively for the masts of the numerous vessels constructed in 
the Northern and Middle States, and for this purpose it would be difficult 
to replace it in North America. Before the war of Independence, England 
is said to have furnished herself with masts from the United States, and 
she still completes from America the demand which cannot be fully sup- 
plied from the north of Europe : the finest timber of this species is brought 
from Maine, and particularly from the river Kennebeck. 
Soon after the establishment of the Colonies, England became sensible 
of the value of this resource, and solicitous for its preservation. In 1711 
and 1721, severe ordinances were enacted, prohibiting the cutting of any 
trees proper for masts on the possessions of the crown. The order com- 
prised the vast countries bounded on the south by New Jersey and on the 
north by the upper limit of Nova Scotia: I am unable to say with what 
degree of rigor it was enforced before the American revolution, but for a 
space of 600 miles, from Philadelphia to a distance beyond Boston, I did 
not observe a single stock of the White Pine large enough for the mast of 
a vessel of 600 tons. 
The principal superiority of the White Pine masts over those brought 
from Riga is their lightness ; but they have less strength, and are said to 
decay more rapidly between decks and at the point of intersection of the 
yards ; this renders the Long-leaved Pine superior to the White Pine in the 
opinion of the greater part of American ship-builders. But some of them 
are of opinion that the White Pine would be equally durable if the end 
was carefully protected from the weather. With this view an experiment 
has been imagined of a hole several feet deep made in the top of the mast, 
filled with oil, and hermetically sealed ; the oil is said to be absorbed in a 
few months. The bowsprits and yards of ships of war are of this species. 
The wood is not resinous enough to furnish turpentine for commerce, 
