Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/290

 CHAPTER XXXIII.

PINES.

THE RED PINE TREE (Pinus resinosa, Aiton).

In an official report, published in Boston in 1846, on the trees growing naturally in the forests of Massachusetts, it is stated that "The bark of this tree is much less rough than that of the Pitch Pine, and consists of rather broad scales of a reddish colour. The long leaves are in twos, and the cones are free from the bristling, rigid, sharp points which distinguish those of the Pitch Pine. It may also be distinguished at a distance by the greater size and length of the terminal brushes of leaves. It is known in New England by the name of Norway Pine, although it is entirely different from the tree so called in Europe, which is a kind of Spruce; it is known in Canada as Red Pine."

This description of timber, unlike the Dantzic and Riga Firs, which take their title from the port of shipment, derives its name from the reddish colour of its bark.

It is a native of the United States and Canada, in North America, where it attains a height of from 70 to 100 feet, with a circumference of from 4 to 5 feet. It is more slender than the Pitch Pine, and yields the timber