Part 2 (2/2)

Maine to Minnesota, and southward to Pennsylvania.

=19. Tamarack= (_Larix occidentalis_) (Western Larch, Larch).

Large-sized trees, scattered, locally abundant. Is little inferior to oak in strength and durability. Heartwood of a light brown color with lighter sapwood, has a fine, slightly satiny grain, and is fairly free from knots; the annual rings are distant. Used for railway ties and s.h.i.+pbuilding. Was.h.i.+ngton and Oregon to Montana.

PINE

Very variable, very light and soft in ”soft” pine, such as white pine; of medium weight to heavy and quite hard in ”hard” pine, of which the long-leaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiff, quite strong, of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood is yellowish white; the heartwood orange brown. Pine shrinks moderately, seasons rapidly and without much injury; it works easily, is never too hard to nail (unlike oak or hickory); it is mostly quite durable when in contact with the soil, and if well seasoned is not subject to the attacks of boring insects. The heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, and the more it shrinks and checks when seasoning. Pine is used more extensively than any other wood. It is the princ.i.p.al wood in carpentry, as well as in all heavy construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is also used in almost every other wood industry; for spars, masts, planks, and timbers in s.h.i.+pbuilding, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage and woodenware; for crates and boxes, in furniture work, for toys and patterns, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large-sized trees with few branches, the straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatest part of the tree. They occur gregariously, forming vast forests, a fact which greatly facilitates their exploitation. Of the many special terms applied to pine as lumber, denoting sometimes differences in quality, the following deserve attention: ”White pine,” ”pumpkin pine,” ”soft pine,” in the Eastern markets refer to the wood of the white pine (_Pinus strobus_), and on the Pacific Coast to that of the sugar pine (_Pinus lambertiana_).

”Yellow pine” is applied in the trade to all the Southern lumber pines; in the Northwest it is also applied to the pitch pine (_Pinus regida_); in the West it refers mostly to the bull pine (_Pinus ponderosa_). ”Yellow long-leaf pine” (Georgia pine), chiefly used in advertis.e.m.e.nts, refers to the long-leaf Pine (_Pinus pal.u.s.tris_).

(_a_) Soft Pines

=20. White Pine= (_Pinus strobus_) (Soft Pine, Pumpkin Pine, Weymouth Pine, Yellow Deal). Large to very large-sized tree, reaching a height of 80 to 100 feet or more, and in some instances 7 or 8 feet in diameter. For the last fifty years the most important timber tree of the United States, furnis.h.i.+ng the best quality of soft pine. Heartwood cream white; sapwood nearly white. Close straight grain, compact structure; comparatively free from knots and resin. Soft, uniform; seasons well; easy to work; nails without splitting; fairly durable in contact with the soil; and shrinks less than other species of pine.

Paints well. Used for carpentry, construction, building, spars, masts, matches, boxes, etc., etc., etc.

=21. Sugar Pine= (_Pinus lambertiana_) (White Pine, Pumpkin Pine, Soft Pine). A very large tree, forming extensive forests in the Rocky Mountains and furnis.h.i.+ng most of the timber of the western United States. It is confined to Oregon and California, and grows at from 1,500 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Has an average height of 150 to 175 feet and a diameter of 4 to 5 feet, with a maximum height of 235 feet and 12 feet in diameter. The wood is soft, durable, straight-grained, easily worked, very resinous, and has a satiny l.u.s.ter which makes it appreciated for interior work. It is extensively used for doors, blinds, sashes, and interior finish, also for druggists' drawers, owing to its freedom from odor, for oars, mouldings, s.h.i.+pbuilding, cooperage, s.h.i.+ngles, and fruit boxes. Oregon and California.

=22. White Pine= (_Pinus monticolo_). A large tree, at home in Montana, Idaho, and the Pacific States. Most common and locally used in northern Idaho.

=23. White Pine= (_Pinus flexilis_). A small-sized tree, forming mountain forests of considerable extent and locally used. Eastern Rocky Mountain slopes, Montana to New Mexico.

(_b_) Hard Pines

=24. Long-Leaf Pine= (_Pinus pal.u.s.tris_) (Georgia Pine, Southern Pine, Yellow Pine, Southern Hard Pine, Long-straw Pine, etc.). Large-sized tree. This species furnishes the hardest and most durable as well as one of the strongest pine timbers in the market. Heartwood orange, sapwood lighter color, the annual rings are strongly marked, and it is full of resinous matter, making it very durable, but difficult to work. It is hard, dense, and strong, fairly free from knots, straight-grained, and one of the best timbers for heavy engineering work where great strength, long span, and durability are required.

Used for heavy construction, s.h.i.+pbuilding, cars, docks, beams, ties, flooring, and interior decoration. Coast region from North Carolina to Texas.

=25. Bull Pine= (_Pinus ponderosa_) (Yellow Pine, Western Yellow Pine, Western Pine, Western White Pine, California White Pine). Medium- to very large-sized tree, forming extensive forests in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain regions. Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood yellowish white, and there is often a good deal of it. The resinous smell of the wood is very remarkable. It is extensively used for beams, flooring, ceilings, and building work generally.

=26. Bull Pine= (_Pinus Jeffreyi_) (Black Pine). Large-sized tree, wood resembles _Pinus ponderosa_ and replacing same at high alt.i.tudes. Used locally in California.

=27. Loblolly Pine= (_Pinus taeda_) (Slash Pine, Old Field Pine, Rosemary Pine, Sap Pine, Short-straw Pine). A large-sized tree, forms extensive forests. Wider-ringed, coa.r.s.er, lighter, softer, with more sapwood than the long-leaf pine, but the two are often confounded in the market. The more Northern tree produces lumber which is weak, brittle, coa.r.s.e-grained, and not durable, the Southern tree produces a better quality wood. Both are very resinous. This is the common lumber pine from Virginia to South Carolina, and is found extensively in Arkansas and Texas. Southern States, Virginia to Texas and Arkansas.

=28. Norway Pine= (_Pinus resinosa_) (American Red Pine, Canadian Pine).

Large-sized tree, never forming forests, usually scattered or in small groves, together with white pine. Largely sapwood and hence not durable. Heartwood reddish white, with fine, clear grain, fairly tough and elastic, not liable to warp and split. Used for building construction, bridges, piles, masts, and spars. Minnesota to Michigan; also in New England to Pennsylvania.

=29. Short-Leaf Pine= (_Pinus echinata_) (Slash Pine, Spruce Pine, Carolina Pine, Yellow Pine, Old Field Pine, Hard Pine). A medium- to large-sized tree, resembling loblolly pine, often approaches in its wood the Norway pine. Heartwood orange, sapwood lighter; compact structure, apt to be variable in appearance in cross-section. Wood usually hard, tough, strong, durable, resinous. A valuable timber tree, sometimes worked for turpentine. Used for heavy construction, s.h.i.+pbuilding, cars, docks, beams, ties, flooring, and house trim.

_Pinus echinata_, _pal.u.s.tris_, and _taeda_ are very similar in character, of thin wood and very difficult to distinguish one from another. As a rule, however, _pal.u.s.tris_ (Long-leaf Pine) has the smallest and most uniform growth rings, and _Pinus taeda_ (Loblolly Pine) has the largest. All are apt to be bunched together in the lumber market as Southern Hard Pine. All are used for the same purposes. Short-leaf is the common lumber pine of Missouri and Arkansas. North Carolina to Texas and Missouri.

=30. Cuban Pine= (_Pinus cubensis_) (Slash Pine, Swamp Pine, b.a.s.t.a.r.d Pine, Meadow Pine). Resembles long-leaf pine, but commonly has a wider sapwood and coa.r.s.er grain. Does not enter the markets to any extent.

Along the coast from South Carolina to Louisiana.

=31. Pitch Pine= (_Pinus rigida_) (Torch Pine). A small to medium-sized tree. Heartwood light brown or red, sapwood yellowish white. Wood light, soft, not strong, coa.r.s.e-grained, durable, very resinous. Used locally for lumber, fuel, and charcoal. Coast regions from New York to Georgia, and along the mountains to Kentucky.

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