first the lichen, the birch, and the willow, have 
spread for ages their w'orn out vestments, to ferti- 
lize a spot for their reception. 
These trees, excepting the Larch, are almost all 
evergreen, and of the Pine, the leaves are needle- 
shaped, and produced in groups of two, three, or 
five, from a scaly sheath. Some species grow to 
immense height, — exceeding two hundred feet ; 
and unlike other trees, they prune themselves, by 
what may be termed starving their lower branches. 
The northern parts of Europe seem to possess 
inexhaustible forests of pines and firs; but still 
those of America, exceed all others in the world, 
both for extent, and the stature of the gigantic 
trees which they contain. 
We have given this general glance over the Co- 
niferae, introductory to figuring some of the most 
interesting of the species, feeling assured that our 
readers will be pleased by a closer acquaintance 
with these aboriginal tenants of the wild forest, 
which are now obtaining so much attention. 
The Pinus resinosa is a hardy North American 
tree, with red bark; very ornamental, either singly, 
or in a coniferous collection, now usually called a 
pinetuin. It ripens seeds, from which it may be 
propagated ; but it is unworthy of culture in this 
country as a timber tree, although in America it 
rises eighty feet high. The finest trees of Resinosa 
are at White Knights; they are about fifty years 
old, and twenty-five feet high ; whilst others in the 
Hackney nursery, of the same age, are only about 
five feet high. Like a great portion of the genus 
it thrives best in a deep light sandy soil. 
