PISES. . 57 
of — not exactly flowers, but something answering to 
them. The ovules, or young seeds, are borne under the 
scales of the cones, and the stamens are in catkins. 
Sometimes these catkins are very large, and they bear a 
great deal of pollen which the wind carries to the cones. 
A pine forest is always a sweet and delightful place. 
When the sun shines on the trees they fill the air with 
fragrance. 
Pine trees used to grow all over the northern part of 
the United States, but they make very valuable timber, 
and so have been carelessly cut down and the forests 
destroyed, until now in many places there are almost 
no pine trees left. 
This was a great mistake, as the people now know. 
The white pine of the North gave a soft white wood that 
could be easily carved or " turned," and it was used more 
extensively than any other wood as long as the forests 
lasted. 
A large part of the South is still covered by forests 
of yellow pine, whose wood is dark, hard, and valuable 
for building purposes. 
The pine forests of the South also yield large quanti- 
ties of tar, resin, and turpentine, and it is sad to see the 
forests being carelessly destroyed each year. The trees 
are cut for their sap, from which turpentine and other 
products are made, but if the same trees are cut three 
years in succession they die. 
