ds with resin ducts.

1. Pines. Fig. 144. Resin ducts numerous, prominent, fairly evenly
distributed. Wood often pitchy. Resinous odor distinct. Clear
demarcation between heart and sapwood. There are two groups of
pines--soft and hard.

(a) Soft Pines. Wood light, soft, not strong, even-textured, very
easy to work. Change from early wood to late wood is gradual and the
difference in density is not great.

(b) Hard Pines. Wood variable but typically rather heavy, hard and
strong, uneven textured, fairly easy to work. Change from early wood
to late wood is abrupt and the difference in density and color is
very marked, consequently alternate layers of light and dark wood
show. The wood of nearly all pines is very extensively employed in
construction work and in general carpentry.

2. Douglas fir. Resin ducts less numerous and conspicuous than in the
pines, irregularly distributed, often in small groups. Odorless or
nearly so. Heartwood and sapwood distinct. The wood is of two kinds.
In one the growth rings are narrow and the wood is rather light and
soft, easy to work, reddish yellow in color; in the other the growth
rings are wide, the wood is rather hard to work, as there is great
contrast between the weak early wood and the very dense late wood of
the annual rings.

Douglas fir is a tree of great economic importance on the Pacific
Coast. The wood is much like hard pine both in its appearance and
its uses.

3. Spruces. Resin ducts few, small, unevenly distributed; appearing
mostly as white dots. Wood not resinous; odorless. The wood is white
or very light colored with a silky luster and with little contrast
between heart and sapwood. It is a great deal like soft pine, though
lighter in color and with much fewer and smaller resin ducts. The
wood is used for construction, carpentry, oars, sounding boards for
musical instruments, and paper pulp.

4. Tamarack. Resin ducts the same as in the spruces. The color of the
heartwood is yellowish or russet brown; that of the distinct sapwood
much lighter. The wood is considerably like hard pine, but lacks the
resinous odor and the resin ducts are much fewer and smaller.

The wood is used largely for cross-ties, fence posts, telegraph and
telephone poles, and to a limited extent for lumber in general
construction.

B. Woods without resin duc