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AUBORETU-M AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

209 r

and the cones, which are quite destitute of prickles, are about 2 in. long,rounded at the base, and abruptly pointed. The concentric circles of thewood are very close; and the wood, when wrought, exhibits a fine compactgrain. It is very heavy; and this, according to Michaux, arises from the quan-tity of resinous matter with which it is impregnated. The finest trees ofthis species in England are at White Knights and Dropmore; at both whichplaces they are from 20 ft. to 25 ft. inheight, and produces cones, in general,every other year. The habit of the tree,at both places, is very well represented byfig. 2097., which is the portrait of a treeat Dropmore (to a scale of 1 in. to 8 ft.),taken in August, 1837. The tree in theHackney arboretum, which was raisedat the same time as those at WhiteKnights, and of the identity of which,from the buds and leaves, there can be nodoubt, not thriving in the London smoke,is only 4 ft. 3 in. high.

Geography, History, 8>c. The elderMichaux first observed the red pine nearLake St. John, in Canada , in n. lat. 48°;and his son did not find it extend farthersouth than Wilkesborough, in Pennsyl-vania , in lat. 41° 30'. It is rare, thelatter observes, in all the country southof the river Hudson ; but it abounds inNova Scotia ; and Mackenzie states thathe saw it beyond Lake Superior . It isnot found in immense forests, but occu-pies small tracts of a few hundred acres in extent, alone or mingledwith the white pine; growing only in dry sandy soils. Mr. M‘Nab onlyfound this species in the neighbourhood of Kingston, and on the banksof the Genessee in the state of New York. He was informed, however, thatit was abundant in the interior of the country, at a distance from the riversand lakes. This species is mentioned, in the Traite des Arbres, &c., ofDu Hamel, published in 1755, as the pin rouge de Canada ; but, as hesays he received the description of it from M. Gaultier, who was con-seiller au conseil superieur, et medecin du roi, at Quebec , it is probablethat living specimens were not sent to France . It was introduced intoBritain by Hugh Duke of Northumberland, in 1756; and Mr. Lambert,writing in 1804, mentions that the greatest number of trees in Englandwere then at Syon House. He also found one at Pain’s Hill, and mentionsothers at Kenwood. The whole of these trees seem to be dead, or cutdown; for we could not find one at Pain’s Hill, and there are none at Syon orKenwood. About the end of the last century, Messrs. Loddiges raised nearly100 plants of P. resinosa, from seeds received from Bartram of Phila-delphia ; and nearly the whole of these were planted by the then MarquessofBlandford (the present Duke of Marlborough) at White Knights, where anumber of them still exist, though they have been much injured by othertrees; and they have borne cones for several years past.

Properties and Uses. The concentric circles of the wood of this tree,Michaux observes, are small, and it consequently exhibits a fine grain ; and, beingrendered heavy by the resinous matter with which it is impregnated, it ishighly esteemed in Canada for its strength and durability. It is employed tofurnish planks for the decks of ships, which are often 40 ft. long, without asingle knot; and, stripped of its sap wood, it makes excellent pumps. Ithas also been used for the masts of ships ; and Du Hamel (Traite desArbres'), and after him Michaux, mention that the mainmast of the St. Law-