_GIANT AND NUT PINES_.
Great was the surprise of Edith when Miss Harson gave the little sleeper
a gentle shake and told her that it was time to be up. But the birds
without the window told the same story, and the little maiden was soon
at the breakfast-table and ready for the day's duties and enjoyments,
including their "tree-talk."
"Are there any more kinds of pine trees?" asked Malcolm.
[Illustration: "AWAKE, LITTLE ONE!"]
"Yes, indeed!--more than we can take up this summer," replied Miss
Harson. "There is the Norway pine, or red pine, which in Maine and New
Hampshire is often seen in forests of white and pitch pine. It has a
tall trunk of eighty feet or so, and a smooth reddish bark. The leaves
are in twos, six or eight inches long, and form large tufts or brushes
at the end of the branchlets. The wood is strong and resembles that of
the pitch-pine, but it contains no resin. The giant pines of California
belong to a different species from any that we have been considering,
and the genus, or order, in which they have been arranged is called
_Sequoia_[19]. They are generally known, however, as the 'Big Trees.' In
one grove there are a hundred and three of them, which cover a space of
fifty acres, called 'Mammoth-Tree Grove.' One of the giants has been
felled--a task which occupied twenty-two days. It was impossible to cut
it down, in the ordinary sense of the term, and the men had to bore into
it with augers until it was at last severed in twain.
Pages:
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216