PINUS, the PINE-TREE; a genus of the monadelphia order, belonging to the monœcia class of plants. There are 14 species; of which the most remarkable are, 1. The pinea, pineaster, or wild pine, grows naturally on the mountains in Italy and the south of France. This grows to the size of a large tree; the branches extend to a considerable distance; and while the trees are young, they are fully garnished with leaves, especially where they are not so close as to exclude the air from those within; but as they advance in age, the branches appear naked, and all those which are situated below become unsightly in a few years, for which reason they are now much less in esteem than formerly. 2. The rubra, commonly called the Scots fir or pine. It is common throughout Scotland, whence its name; though it is also found in most of the other countries of Europe. M. du Hamel, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, mentions his having received some seeds of it from St Domingo in the West Indies; and thence concludes, that it grows indifferently in the temperate, frigid, and torrid zones. The wood of this tree is the red or yellow deal, which is the most durable of any of the kinds yet known. The leaves of this tree are much shorter and broader than those of the former sort, of a greyish colour, growing two out of one sheath; the cones are small, pyramidal, and end in narrow points; they are of a light colour, and the seeds are small. 3. The strobus, Lord Weymouth's pine, or North American white pine. This grows sometimes to the height of 100 feet and upwards, and is highly valued on account of its beauty. The bark of the tree is very smooth and delicate, especially when young; the leaves are long and slender, five growing out of one sheath; the branches are pretty closely garnished with them, and thus make a fine appearance. The cones are long, slender, and very loose, opening with the first warmth of the spring; so that if they are not gathered in winter, the scales open and let out the seeds. The wood of this sort is esteemed for making masts for ships. In Queen Anne's time there was a law made for the preservation of these trees, and for the encouragement of their growth in America. Within these last 50 years they have been propagated in Britain in considerable plenty.
Culture. All the sorts of pines are propagated by seeds produced in hard woody cones. The way to get the seeds out of these cones is to lay them before a gentle fire, which will cause the cells to open, and then the seeds may be easily taken out. If the cones
Pins. are kept entire, the seeds will remain good for some years; so that the surest way of preserving them is to let them remain in the cones till the time for sowing the seeds. If the cones are kept in a warm place in summer, they will open and emit the seeds; but if they are not exposed to the heat, they will remain close for a long time. The best season for sowing the pines is about the end of March. When the seeds are sown, the place should be covered with nets to keep off the birds; otherwise, when the plants begin to appear with the husk of the seed on the top of them, the birds will peck off the tops, and thus destroy them.
Uses. From the first species is extracted the common turpentine, much used by farriers, and from which is drawn the oil of that name. A decoction of the nuts or seeds of this species in milk, or of the extremities of the branches pulled in spring, is said, with a proper regimen, to cure the most inveterate scurvy. The wood of this species is not valued; but that of the Scots pine is superior to any of the rest. It is observable of the Scots pine, that when planted in bogs, or in a moist soil, though the plants make great progress, yet the wood is white, soft, and little esteemed; but when planted in a dry soil, tho' the growth of the trees is there very slow, yet the wood is proportionably better. Few trees have been applied to more uses than this. The tallest and straightest are formed by nature for masts to our navy. The timber is resinous, durable, and applicable to numberless domestic purposes, such as flooring and wainscoting of rooms, making of beds, chests, tables, boxes, &c. From the trunk and branches of this, as well as most others of the pine tribe, tar and pitch is obtained. By incision, barras, Burgundy pitch, and turpentine, are acquired and prepared. The resinous roots are dug out of the ground in many parts of the Highlands, and, being divided into small splinters, are used by the inhabitants to burn instead of candles. At Loch-Broom, in Ross-shire, the fishermen make ropes of the inner bark; but hard necessity has taught the inhabitants of Sweden, Lapland, and Kamchatka, to convert the same into bread. To effect this, they, in the Spring season, make choice of the tallest and fairest trees; then stripping off carefully the outer bark, they collect the soft, white, succulent interior bark, and dry it in the shade. When they have occasion to use it, they first toast it at the fire, then grind, and, after steeping the flour in warm water to take off the resinous taste, they make it into thin cakes, which are baked for use. On this strange food the poor inhabitants are sometimes constrained to live for a whole year; and, we are told, through custom, become at last even fond of it. Linnæus remarks, that this same bark-bread will fatten swine; and humanity obliges us to wish, that men might never be reduced to the necessity of robbing them of such a food. The interior bark, of which the above-mentioned bread is made, the Swedish boys frequently peel off the trees in the spring, and eat raw with greedy appetite. From the cones of this tree is prepared a diuretic oil, like the oil of turpentine, and a resinous extract, which has similar virtues with the balsam of Peru. An infusion or tea of the buds is highly commended as an antiscorbutic. The farina,
or yellow powder, of the male-flowers, is sometimes in the spring carried away by the winds, in such quantities, where the trees abound, as to alarm the ignorant with the notion of its raining brimstone. The tree lives to a great age; Linnæus affirms, to 400 years.