American Forest Trees Part 3

LONGLEAF PINE

(_Pinus Pal.u.s.tris_)

Longleaf is generally considered to be the most important member of the group of hard or pitch pines in this country[2]. It is known by many names in different parts of its range, and outside of its range where the wood is well known.

[2] There is no precise agreement as to what should be included in the group of hard pines in the United States, but the following twenty-two are usually placed in that cla.s.s: Longleaf Pine (_Pinus pal.u.s.tris_), Shortleaf Pine (_Pinus echinata_), Loblolly Pine (_Pinus taeda_), Cuban Pine (_Pinus heterophylla_), Norway Pine (_Pinus resinosa_), Western Yellow Pine (_Pinus ponderosa_), Chihuahua Pine (_Pinus chihuahuana_), Arizona Pine (_Pinus arizonica_), Pitch Pine (_Pinus rigida_), Pond Pine (_Pinus serotina_), Spruce Pine (_Pinus glabra_), Monterey Pine (_Pinus radiata_), k.n.o.bcone Pine (_Pinus attenuata_), Gray Pine (_Pinus sabiniana_), Coulter Pine (_Pinus coulteri_), Lodgepole Pine (_Pinus contorta_), Jack Pine (_Pinus divaricata_), Scrub Pine (_Pinus virginiana_), Sand Pine (_Pinus clausa_), Table Mountain Pine (_Pinus pungens_), California Swamp Pine (_Pinus muricata_), Torry Pine (_Pinus torreyana_).

The names southern pine, Georgia pine, and Florida pine are not well chosen, because there are other important pines in the regions named.

Turpentine pine is a common term, but other species produce turpentine also, particularly the Cuban pine. Hard pine is much employed in reference to this tree, and it applies well, but it describes other species also. Heart pine is a lumberman's term to distinguish this species from loblolly, shortleaf, and Cuban pines. The sapwood of the three last named is thick, the heartwood small, while in longleaf pine the sap is thin, the heart large, hence the name applied by lumbermen.

In Tennessee where it is not a commercial forest tree, it is called brown pine, and in nearly all parts of the United States it is spoken of as yellow pine, usually with some adjective as "southern," "Georgia," or "longleaf." The persistency with which Georgia is used as a portion of the name of this tree is due to the fact that extensive lumbering of the longleaf forests began in that state. The center of operations has since shifted to the West, and is now in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

The tree has many other names, among them being pitch pine and fat pine.

These have reference to its value in the naval stores industry. The name longleaf pine is now well established in commercial transactions. It has longer leaves than any other pine in this country. They range in length from eight to eighteen inches. The needles of Cuban pine are from eight to twelve inches; loblolly's are from six to nine; and those of shortleaf from three to five.

Longleaf pine's geographic range is more restricted than that of loblolly and shortleaf, but larger than the range of Cuban pine.

Longleaf occupies a belt from Virginia to Texas, following the tertiary sandy formation pretty closely. The belt seldom extends from the coast inland more than 125 miles. The tree runs south in Florida to Tampa bay.

It disappears as it approaches the Mississippi, but reappears west of that river in Louisiana and Texas. Its western limit is near Trinity river, and its northern in that region is near the boundary between Louisiana and Arkansas.

Longleaf attains a height of from sixty to ninety feet, but a few trees reach 130. The diameters of mature trunks range from one foot to three, usually less than two. The leaves grow three in a bundle, and fall at the end of the second year. They are arranged in thick, broom-like bunches on the ends of the twigs. It is a tree of slow growth compared with other pines of the region. Its characteristic narrow annual rings are usually sufficient to distinguish its logs and lumber from those of other southern yellow pines. Its thin sapwood likewise a.s.sists in identification. The proportionately high percentage of heartwood in longleaf pine makes it possible to saw lumber which shows little or no sapwood. It is difficult to do that with other southern pines.

The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard for pine, very strong, tough, compact, durable, resinous, resin pa.s.sages few, not conspicuous; medullary rays numerous, not conspicuous; color, light red or orange, the thin sapwood nearly white. The annual rings contain a large proportion of dark colored summerwood, which accounts for the great strength of longleaf pine timber. The contrast in color between the springwood and the summerwood is the basis of the figure of this pine which gives it much of its value as an interior finish material, including doors. The hardness of the summerwood provides the wearing qualities of flooring and paving blocks. The coloring matter in the body of the wood protects it against decay for a longer period than most other pines. This, in connection with its hardness and strength, gives it high standing for railroad ties, bridges, trestles, and other structures exposed to weather.

Longleaf pine is as widely used as any softwood in this country. It serves with hardwoods for a number of purposes. It has been a timber of commerce since an early period, and was exported from the south Atlantic coast long before the Revolutionary war; but it was later than that when it came into keen compet.i.tion with the Riga pine of northern Europe. It has since held its own in the European markets, and its trade has extended to many other foreign countries, particularly to the republics of South and Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies.

It did not attain an important position in the commerce of this country until after the Civil war, but it had a place in shipbuilding before that time, and it has held that place. The builders of cars employ large quant.i.ties for frames and other parts of gondolas, box cars, and coaches. Over 175,000,000 feet were so used in 1909 in Illinois. It is the leading car building timber in this country. Its great strength, hardness, and stiffness give it that place.

It is scarcely less important as an interior wood for house finish. It is not so much its strength as its beauty that recommends it for that purpose. Its beauty is due to a combination of figure and color.

Splendid variety is possible by carefully selecting the material.

Manufacturers of furniture, fixtures, and vehicles are large users of longleaf pine. In these lines its chief value is due to strength.

In the naval stores industry in this country, it is more important than all other species combined. For a century and a half it has supplied this country and much of the rest of the world. The princ.i.p.al commodities made from the resin of this tree are spirits of turpentine and rosin. These two articles are produced by distilling the resin which exudes from wounds in the tree. The distillate is spirits of turpentine, the residue is rosin. The manufacture of naval stores has destroyed tens of thousands of trees in the past; but better methods are now in use and loss is less. Georgia and South Carolina were once the center of naval stores production; but it has now moved to Louisiana and Florida.

The supply of longleaf pine has rapidly decreased during the past twenty years, and though the end is not yet at hand, it is approaching. Young trees are not coming on to take the place of those cut for lumber. They grow slowly at best, and a new forest could not be produced in less than a hundred years. Both protection and care have been lacking. Fire usually kills seedlings in their first or second year. The result is that many extensive tracts where longleaf pine once grew in abundance have few young and scarcely any old trees now. As far as can be foreseen, this valuable timber will reach its end when existing stands have been cut.

CUBAN PINE (_Pinus heterophylla_). The Cuban pine has several local names; slash pine in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; swamp pine in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi; meadow pine in Florida and Mississippi; pitch pine in Florida; and spruce pine in Alabama. Its range is confined to the coast region from South Carolina to Louisiana, from sixty to one hundred miles inland. It is the only pine in the extreme south of Florida. The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, tough, compact, durable, resinous, the resin pa.s.sages few but conspicuous, rich dark orange color, the sapwood often nearly white. The annual ring is usually more than half dark colored summerwood. The Cuban pine grows rapidly, quickly appropriates vacant ground, and the species is spreading. Its needles, from eight to twelve inches long, fall the second year. The wood possesses nearly the strength, hardness, and stiffness of longleaf pine, and the trunks are as large. The two woods which are so similar in other respects differ in figure, owing to the wider annual rings of the Cuban pine. The sapwood of the latter species greatly exceeds in thickness that of longleaf pine. For that reason it is often mistaken for loblolly pine. Cuban pine never goes to market under its own name, but is mixed with and pa.s.ses for one of the other southern yellow pines.

SAND PINE (_Pinus clausa_). This tree is generally twenty or thirty feet high, and eight or twelve inches in diameter. Under favorable conditions it attains a height of sixty or eighty feet and a diameter of two. The leaves are two or three inches long, and fall the third and fourth years. Its range is almost wholly in Florida but extends a little over the northern border. It grows as far south as Tampa on the west coast, and nearly to Miami on the east. It is not much cut for lumber because of its small size and generally short, limby trunk. In a few localities shapely boles are developed, and serviceable lumber is made. It is a poor-land tree, as its name implies. The cones adhere to the branches many years, and may be partly enclosed in the growing wood.

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SHORTLEAF PINE

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHORTLEAF PINE]

SHORTLEAF PINE

(_Pinus Echinata_)

In the markets the lumber of this species is known as yellow pine, southern yellow pine, and sap pine, and in some localities the term shortleaf is used. The latter is descriptive, and can be easily understood when reference is made to the living tree, because its short needles distinguish it from its a.s.sociates in the pine forest; but in speaking of lumber only, the reference to the leaves has less meaning, particularly to one who is not acquainted with the tree's appearance.

Its wood so closely resembles that of Cuban and loblolly pine that they are not easily distinguished by sight alone. In the East the name Carolina pine or North Carolina pine is much used, but it is not often heard west of the Allegheny mountains. Referring to the manner and locality of its growth it is called slash pine in North Carolina and Virginia, old-field pine in Alabama and Mississippi, and poor-field pine in Florida. Its tendency to take possession of abandoned ground has given it these names. It is occasionally called pitch pine in Missouri.

That name would not distinguish it in most parts of the South where several species of pitch pine grow. In some regions it is known as spruce pine, but the name is not based on any characteristic of the living tree or of its wood. In North Carolina and Alabama, and in literature, it is sometimes known as rosemary pine, but that name applies rather to fine timber cut from any southern yellow pine, than to this species in particular. In Delaware it is known as shortshat and in Virginia as bull pine. To those who are familiar with the tree's appearance, the name shortleaf pine is most accurate in definition.

The commercial range of shortleaf pine has contracted to a considerable extent since the settlement of the country. It once grew as far north as Albany, New York, and from fifty to a hundred years ago it was lumbered in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia in regions where it has now ceased to exist, or is found only as scattered trees. Its geographical range is now usually given from New York to Florida, west to Missouri and Oklahoma and northeastern Texas. It is important in lumber operations in North Carolina and southward, and westward to the limits of its range. The tree reaches its largest size and attains its finest stands west of the Mississippi river. In average size it exceeds longleaf pine. It may reach a height above 100 feet and a trunk diameter of three or four. Squared timbers of large size were formerly exported from Virginia and North Carolina. Similar sizes cannot now be procured there.

Shortleaf pine varies greatly in the quality and amount of sapwood. It is normally a thick sap tree, but midway between loblolly and longleaf.

The young tree increases rapidly in size until it is from six to ten inches in diameter, and the yearly rings are wide. The rate of growth then decreases and during the rest of its life the rings are narrow.

This feature is often of a.s.sistance in identifying southern yellow pine logs or large timbers which contain the heart and also the sap. Wide rings near the heart, followed by narrow ones, and a thick sapwood are pretty good evidence that the timber--if a southern yellow pine--is shortleaf pine. The rule is not absolute; for a high authority on timber has said that no infallible rule can be laid down for distinguishing by sight alone the woods of the four southern yellow pines--longleaf, shortleaf, Cuban, and loblolly.

The wood of shortleaf pine is strong, heavy, hard, and compact; very resinous, resin pa.s.sages large and numerous; medullary rays numerous, conspicuous; color, orange, the sapwood nearly white. The thoroughly seasoned wood weighs thirty-eight pounds per cubic foot. It is about five pounds heavier than loblolly pine, five pounds lighter than longleaf, and nearly nine pounds lighter than Cuban pine. There is so great a variation in weight of shortleaf pine that only general averages have value.

Shortleaf pine is not as strong as longleaf, and is not so extensively employed in heavy structural work, but in certain other lines it has the advantage of longleaf. It is softer, and door and sash makers like it better. It is easier to work, and when manufactured into doors and interior finish many consider it superior to longleaf. The wide rings of annual growth in the heartwood show fine contrast in color, and when these are developed by stains and fillers, the grain or figure of the wood is very pleasing. Where hardness is not an essential, it is much used for floors. It is in great demand by builders of freight cars, but less for frames and heavy beams than for siding and decking. Car builders in Illinois bought 77,000,000 feet of it in 1909. That was nearly half of the entire quant.i.ty of this wood used in the state. The second largest users in Illinois were manufacturers of sash, doors, blinds, and general millwork. If the whole country is considered, this is probably the largest use of the wood. Makers of boxes and crates in the South employ large quant.i.ties.

The depletion of shortleaf forests has progressed rapidly, but in the absence of reliable statistics it is impossible to give figures by decades or years. In 1880 an estimate placed the amount west of the Mississippi at 95,000,000,000 feet. That was probably less than half of the country's supply at that time. In 1911 the Commissioner of Corporations estimated that the combined remaining stand of loblolly and shortleaf pine in the South was 152,000,000,000 feet. It is doubtful if half of it was shortleaf. In that case, there was less shortleaf pine in the entire South in 1911 than there was west of the Mississippi river thirty years before.

Rapid decrease in total stand of a species does not necessarily imply exhaustion. The cut will fall off as scarcity pinches. In the case of shortleaf pine, an influence is active which will bring good results in the future. This pine reproduces with vigor. Its small triangular seeds are equipped with wings which carry them into vacant areas where they quickly germinate if they fall on mineral soil. The seedling trees suffer much from fire, but their power of resistance is fairly good, and dense new growth is coming on in many localities. A good many years are required to bring a seedling to maturity, but it will reach sawlog size sometime, and there is no question but that the market will welcome it.

The shortleaf pine is peculiar among eastern softwoods in one respect.

Stumps will sprout. That occurs oftener west of the Mississippi than east. However, the tree's ability to send up sprouts from the stump is of little practical value, since the sprouts seldom or never develop into merchantable trees. In that respect it differs from the other well-known sprouting softwood of this country, the California redwood, whose numerous sprouts grow into large trunks.

SPRUCE PINE (_Pinus glabra_). This is one of the softest and the whitest of the hard pines of this country. Nothing but its scarcity stands in the way of its becoming an important timber tree. The best of it is a satisfactory subst.i.tute for white pine in the manufacture of doors. It grows rapidly, and the wide rings contain a high percentage of light colored springwood, though there is enough summerwood of darker color to give the dressed lumber a character. It weighs about the same as northern white pine, but is weaker. In South Carolina and Florida it is called white pine, but the name spruce is more general. It is known also as kingstree, poor pine, Walter's pine, and lowland spruce pine. Its range is restricted to southern South Carolina, northern Florida and southern Alabama and Mississippi, and northeastern Louisiana. Its leaves are from one and a half to three inches in length, grow two in a bundle, and fall the second and third years. Large and well-formed trunks attain a height of from eighty to 100 feet and a diameter from two to nearly three. It reaches its best development in northwestern Florida, and its light, symmetrical trunks have long been in use there as masts for small vessels. It is too scarce to attract much attention from lumbermen, but they are well acquainted with its good qualities, and some of them take pains to keep the lumber separate from a.s.sociated pines, and sell it to manufacturers of doors and interior finish. The bark bears considerable resemblance to spruce, which probably accounts for the name of the tree.

TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE (_Pinus pungens_). The French botanist, Michaux the younger, has been criticized for the statement which he made more than a hundred years ago that this species was confined to a certain flat-topped mountain in the southern Appalachian ranges, and he called it table mountain pine. It lacked much of being confined within the narrow limits where it was discovered. It grows in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. Its other names are p.r.i.c.kly pine, hickory pine, and southern mountain pine. It supplies timber in all parts of its range, but, except in very restricted localities, it is not abundant. The lumber in the market is seldom distinguished from other pines, but some of the Tennessee mills sell it separately to local customers. The wood is medium light, rather strong (about like _Pinus rigida_, or pitch pine, which it resembles in other respects), is less stiff than white pine, and is resinous. The thick sapwood is nearly white, the heartwood brown. It is not a durable timber in contact with the ground. Its fuel value is low. Its needles grow in cl.u.s.ters of two, and are generally less than two inches long. The cones which are in cl.u.s.ters of from three to eight, and from two to three and a half inches long, are armed with stout, curved hooks. The cones shed their seeds irregularly during two or three years, and sometimes hang on the trees for twenty years. In open ground this pine occasionally produces fertile seeds when only a few feet high. Its forest form and open-ground form are quite different. In thick woods the tree is tall, with good bole, but in open ground it is only twenty or thirty feet high, and is covered with limbs almost to the ground.

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LOBLOLLY PINE

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOBLOLLY PINE]

LOBLOLLY PINE

(_Pinus Taeda_)