The seed cones are from six to ten inches long, and the scales have little prickles on their ends. The tree grows throughout the southern states from Virginia to Texas, and the cutting of its timber is a valuable industry of the South.
61. Yellow Pine. The common yellow pine must not be confounded with the long-leaved Georgia pine. The former has needles growing three in a bunch, and the latter short needles three or four inches long, growing two and sometimes three in a group. The cone of the common yellow pine is also very much smaller, being only two inches long.
Its wood is very valuable and is used for flooring, ceiling, and interior finishing.
Fig. 124. Hemlock
There are several less important kinds of pine, such as the northern and Jersey scrub pines, and the red, or Norway pine.
Spruce, hemlock, and fir are well-known members of the evergreen family.
62. Hemlock is a graceful, dainty-looking tree, with drooping branches and little needles not over half an inch long. It is a northern tree except along the Allegheny Mountains, where it extends as far south as Alabama. The seed cones are the tiniest brown things to be found among the common trees. They are no longer than the hemlock needles.
