As every one cannot distinguish a Pine from a Fir, this lesson is illustrated with drawings, showing the peculiar character of each, so that any boy or girl may be able, when looking at a cone-bearing tree, to decide whether it is a Pine or a Fir.
Fig. 1 represents a small piece of the twig of a White Pine. On examination it will be seen that the leaves are needle-shaped, and spring from the young shoot in little tufts of fives, all issuing from one point. This arrangement and form of the leaf are peculiar to Pines, and should be kept in mind when examining a tree, in order to know whether it is a Pine or a Fir. Every Pine tree, however, has not five leaves issuing from one point; some have only two, and there are others, again, that have three.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2 represents a twig of the Hemlock Spruce Fir, a tree well-known to nearly every young person in Canada. Looking at this illustration, we at once observe that the leaves are distributed singly on the young shoot, and stand out in two rows. In the case of a few species of Fir, however, the leaves are not thus arranged, but are scattered all round the twigs, being stiff and pointed, as shown in Fig. 3, which represents a twig of the common Black Spruce Fir. In all cases, Firs have their leaves springing singly from the twigs, an arrangement by which any child can distinguish them from Pines.
Fig. 2.
Of all our native trees, Pines are considered the most valuable, as their timber can be used for almost every purpose for which wood is required, especially for house-building, ship-building, fencing, and railway construction. The two principal species are the White and the Red Pine.
Fig. 3.