Har. What beautiful trees!
Tut. They are the Pines called Larches, natives of the Alps and Apennines, introduced into this country about the middle of the last century, for the purpose, at first, of decorating our gardens, and of which extensive plantations for timber have since been made, both in England and Scotland. These are not properly evergreens, as they shed their leaves in winter, but quickly recover them again. Then we have besides the Weymouth pine, which is the tallest species in America—the silver fir, so called from the silvery hue of its foliage—the pinaster—and a tree of ancient fame, the cedar of Lebanon.
Geo. I suppose that is a very great tree?
Tut. It grows to a large size, but is slow in coming to its full growth.
Geo. Are pines and firs very useful trees?
Tut. Perhaps the most so of any. By much the greatest part of the wood at present used among us comes from them.
Har. What—more than from the oak?
Tut. Yes, much more. Almost all the timber used in building houses, for floors, beams, rafters, and roofs, is fir.
Geo. Does it all grow in this country?
Tut. Scarcely any of it. Norway, Sweden, and Russia, are the countries from which we draw our timber, and a vast trade there is in it. You have seen timber-yards?