Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/295

 CHAPTER XXXIV.

PINES—(Continued).

THE YELLOW PINE TREE (Pinus Strobus).

This tree occupies a very wide range in North America, and is found to spread from near the Saskatchewan River, in about 54° N., to the ridges of the Alleghany Mountains in Georgia, and from Nova Scotia to the Rocky Mountains. It is found in every part of New England, growing in every variety of soil, but flourishing best in a deep, moist, loamy sand.

In England it is called by botanists the Weymouth Pine, in compliment to Lord Weymouth, who first introduced it into this country; but in America it is commonly known as the White Pine, while the timber it yields is best known in commerce as the Yellow Pine. This tree may be distinguished by its leaves growing in tufts of five, by its very long cones composed of loosely-arranged scales, and, when young, by the smoothness and delicate light-green colour of the bark. The trees are of erect growth and noble dimensions, many of them being 100 to 150 feet in height, and from 9 to 12 feet in circumference.

The wood is of a pale straw colour, soft, light (the specific gravity being only 435), and moderately strong. It has a clean, fine grain, works up with a smooth and