our western mountain regions. There are 37 species in the United States, 25 occurring in the west, nine in the Mississippi basin, and seven in New England and the middle, Atlantic states. They are found under widely-varying conditions: down by the sea and up the mountain to the timber-line. The leaves are evergreen. The branches grow in imperfect whorls about a central trunk. The naked flowers appear in early spring, and the fruit is a cone. Wood, turpentine, rosin and tar are the products. The pine is so important a timber-tree that it seems doomed as a tree of the forest. It does not send up shoots, and its seeds soon lose their vitality. Far and wide nut-bearing trees have driven the pines backward from rich lands to the sands. The commonest species in the eastern United States are P. Strobus, the white pine; P. resinosa, the red pine; and P. palustris, the long-leaved or Georgia pine. The pitch-pine, abundant in the eastern pine-barrens, is well-known. In the western mountain region P. ponderosa, the great yellow pine, is one of the most important lumber-trees. P. edulis, the piñon or nut-pine, occurs in southern Colorado and southward. The white pine is a magnificent tree and the most valuable timber-tree of the eastern states. It grows to a height of 80 to 175 feet. The branches, whorled horizontally about the splendid, erect column, are most picturesque. The bluish-green, needle-shaped leaves are arranged along the branches in clusters of fives. The cones are long and slender. Its range is from Newfoundland to Manitoba, along the Alleghenies south to Georgia. The wood is light, soft, straight-grained and takes a fine polish; is used in cabinet-work, in interior finish and for shingles, lumber, masts and spars. The red or Norway pine is a beautiful tree belonging to the north. It is valued for its lumber and grows from 70 to 150 feet high. The long-leaved Georgia, southern or yellow pine is a very important timber-tree. Its wood is of a rich orange-yellow, very ornamental. Much turpentine, resin and tar are obtained from this tree. It rises from too to 120 feet, and is noted for its beautiful foliage. The leaves, from 10 to 15 inches long, grow in thick tufts at the ends of the branches. The yellow pine of the west occasionally attains a height of 230 feet, frequently of 150 feet. It is found from British Columbia to Mexico east to Nebraska and Texas. One of the most important pines in cultivation is the Scotch pine, P. silvestris, the common pine of northern Europe. The Austrian pine, P. Austriaca (P. Laricio), is a fast-growing and massive tree and common in cultivation. See Keeler: Our Native Trees.
Pinero, Sir Arthur Wing, the son of a solicitor, was born in London, May 24, 1855. Like Shakespeare, he was an actor but he left the stage in 1881 and since then has devoted himself entirely to play-writing. He began his stage career in 1874 at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh. Two years later he went to London on an engagement at the Globe Theatre. Then, for five years, he was a member of the Lyceum Company. He was knighted in 1909.
His first production, to attract general attention, was “The Money Spinner”, which was produced at the St. James's theatre, London, in 1880. His most celebrated play is “The Second Mrs. Tanqueray”, which was first played at the same theatre in 1893. It at once created wide discussion, both because of the art displayed in the work and the nature of the subject, which deals with the sex problem.
In the general opinion of critics it places the author among the very first of living dramatists.
Pine′apple, the fruit of Ananas sativa, a member of the Bromelia family. It is native to tropical America, and has become naturalized in the tropical regions of Asia and Africa. The chief regions of “pine-growing,” as it is called, which supply the markets of the United States, are southern Florida and the various West Indian islands, the Isle of Pines being named from this industry. The so-called fruit consists of a fleshy, cone-like flower-cluster, which includes the axis and bracts and flowers of a whole inflorescence. Numerous cultivated forms have been developed.
Pine Bluff, Ark., county-seat of Jefferson County, is built on a high bluff on the south bank of Arkansas River, about 120 miles from its mouth. It lies 38 miles southeast of Little Rock, and is surrounded by rich agricultural country. It contains iron-works, manufactures cottonseed-oil, flour, bricks and lumber, and ships large quantities of cotton. The city has admirable public schools, a convent, a colored industrial school (R. C.), fine churches and an elegant opera-house. It possesses all the adjuncts of a progressive city: waterworks, electric lights and an electric street-car system. Pine Bluff has river-service for passengers and freight, besides being served by five railroads. Population 15,102.
Pink, the name of a species of the genus Dianthus and extended to the members of the pink family. The common pinks of old gardens are supposed to have descended from D. plumarius, a native of eastern Europe. The sweet-william or bunch-pink is D. barbatus, abundant in all country gardens and a native of Europe. The carnation or clove-pink is D. caryophyllus, which occurs in a great variety of colors, either pure or variegated, and is grown mostly indoors. Some of the wild flowers which belong to this family are also called pinks, as for example, the fire-pink (Silene
