Fig. 220.
Fig. 221.
131. Pine.
—[Fig. 221]. 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 longleaf 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, 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. Pine is used more extensively than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common carpentry, as well as in all heavy construction, bridges, trestles, etc. It is used also in almost every other wood industry, for spars, masts, planks, and timbers in ship building, in car and wagon construction, in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furniture work, for toys and patterns, railway ties, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually large trees with few branches, the straight, cylindrical, useful stem forming by far the greatest part of the tree.
132. Spruce.
—[Fig. 222]. Resembles soft pine, is light, very soft, stiff, moderately strong, less resinous than pine; has no distinct heartwood, and is of whitish color. Used like soft pine, but also employed as resonance wood and preferred for paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, form extensive forests; they are more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and bear more shade, but usually require a more humid climate. “Black” and “white” spruce as applied by lumbermen, usually refer to narrow and wide ringed forms of black spruce.
Fig. 222.
Fig. 223.