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From Garrya'sceae to the end / by J.C. Loudon
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lington, on Lake Champlain, in the state of Vermont. In these places, it growscommonly in light, friable, and sandy soils, which it occupies almost exclusive-ly ; not exceeding 12 ft. or 15 ft. in height; and where its slender branches, ladenwith puny cones, evince the feebleness of its vegetation. In Pennsylvania andVirginia, the ridges of the Alleghanies are sometimes covered with it; parti-cularly the south mountains, on the ridge called Saddle Hill, where thesoil is rather richer, and where the tree attains the height of 35 ft. or 40 ft.,with a trunk 12 in. or 15 in. in diameter. In the lower parts of New Jersey,Pennsylvania, and Maryland, it is frequently seen, in the large cedar swamps(which are constantly miry, or covered with water), 70 ft. or 80 ft. high, witha trunk from 20 in. to 28 in. in diameter, and exceeding the surroundingtrees both in bulk and elevation. It supports a long time the presence ofsea water, which, in spring tides, overflows the salt meadows, where it issometimes found, and where it is the only species of the pine tribe. Messrs.Brown and M‘Nab found the summits of the Alleghany Mountains entirelycovered by scraggy' trees of this species, with dwarf scrub oak (QuercusBannister?) as underwood. (Quart. Journ. of Agri., v. p. 604.) On drygravelly soil, Michaux observes, the wood of P. rigida is knotty; and, inhumid situations, it is of so poor a quality, as to be unfit for works whichrequire strength or durability. This species seems to have formerly aboundedin Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire; for, from the begin-ning of the eighteenth century, till 1776, these states furnished Britain with aconsiderable quantity of tar. About the year 1705, a misunderstanding havingtaken place between Great Britain and Sweden, from which latter countrythe British government had principally drawn its supply of tar, Great Britainencouraged this branch of industry in the northern part of America, by apremium of \l. sterling for every barrel of tar made from dead wood, and 21.for every barrel made from green wood ; in consequence of which, and of thistree furnishing tar abundantly, its destruction has been so rapid, that it is nowrarely found in the northern states. P. rfgida was cultivated in England bythe Duke of Bedford, previously to 1759; and, as the cones are frequentlyimported, it is not uncommon in collections of the genus. There are oldtrees at Syon and Pain’s Hill, from 40ft. to 50ft. high; and one at Dropmore,40 years planted, which, in 1837, was 31 ft. high. The specimen in thearboretum at Hackney is 10 ft. 6 in. high; and one in the HorticulturalSociety’s Garden, after being 6 years planted, is 5 ft. high.

Properties and Uses. In some parts of the Alleghanies, where this, treeabounds, houses are built of it; and the wood, if it is not covered with paint,is readily recognised by its numerous knots. It is thought better than the

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