Posted by Bruce Beveridge on March 25, 2000 at 19:55:45:
In Reply to: Pitch Pine for Bruce posted by David Snyder on March 24, 2000 at 23:54:35:
Here's a quotation from "The American Built Clipper Ship 1850-1856":
"Pine, Pitch, Pinus echinata
Diameter 3 ft avg., 4ft. max.
Height 100 ft. avg., 146 ft. max.
Life span 170 years avg., 400 years max.
Weight 43 pounds per cubic foot
Strength 75 with white oak rated at 100
This species, now known as "shortleaf pine" or "yellow pine" is abundant
throughout all the Southern states from Virginia to eastern Texas. It is
the tree which in the early 1700's was scored with the King's broad arrow
and claimed by the English crown for use in making masts for the Roal Navy.
Today it is used extensively in millwork and construction, in the
manufacture of plywood and as pulpwood.
In the era of the clipper ship, the wood was widely used for keelsons,
planking, beams, and other large inboard timbers, in addition to masts. It
was always specified as "pitch pine." This tree should not be confused with
the smaller Northern pitch pine, Pinus rigida, such as forms the famous Pine
Barrens of New Jersey.
Pitch pine has superior resistance to rot."