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The Shape of the Coming Crisis
A sequence of end-time events based on the
writings of Ellen G. White

Donald E. Mansell

Pacific Press® Publishing Association

Nampa, Idaho
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
www.pacificpress.com
 Cover design by Tim Larson

Originally published in 1998.

The author assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all facts and
quotations as cited in this book.
Heritage Project
This book is part of the Pacific Press® Heritage Project, a plan to re-
publish classic books from our historical archives and to make valuable
books available once more. The content of this book is presented as it was
originally published and should be read with its original publication date in
mind.

You can obtain additional copies of this book by calling toll-free 1-

800-765-6955 or by visiting www.adventistbookcenter.com. You can
purchase this as an e-book by visiting www.adventist-ebooks.com.

Copyright © 2011 Edition by Pacific Press® Publishing Association

Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved

ISBN 13: 978-0-8163-2739-3

ISBN 10: 0-8163-2739-4
Table of Contents
Introduction: Human Predictions And The More Sure Word Of Divine
Prophecy
Chapter 1. A Cause-Effect Chronology Of The Coming Crisis
Chapter 2. Preparation For The Coming Crisis And The Time Of Trouble
Chapter 3. The Mark Of The Beast And The Sunday Versus Sabbath Conflict
Chapter 4. The Trials And Triumph Of The Third Angel's Message
Chapter 5. Good And Evil Angels And Satan Personations
Chapter 6. The Seal Of God, The Sealing, And The 144,000
Chapter 7. The Sifting Or Shaking And The Omega Of Apostasy
Chapter 8. The Loud Cry, The Angel Of Revelation 18 And The Latter Rain
Chapter 9. The Close Of Probation, The Plagues, And The Death Decree
Chapter 10. Deliverance, The Special Resurrection, And The Second
Coming
 Introduction

Human Predictions and the More Sure Word of Divine Prophecy

We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known

unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour
and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which
came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed.-2 Peter 1:16-19.

H. G. Wells’s prediction
In 1933 the famous British historian, novelist, and Utopian, Herbert
George Wells, better known simply as H. G. Wells, published a novel
entitled The Shape of Things to Come. In his book Mr. Wells described the
history of the world in advance for the next 173 years, or to the year 2106.
As a Utopian as well as an evolutionist, Mr. Wells believed that human
society was steadily progressing toward perfection. In the struggle for the
survival of the fittest, there would be occasional setbacks* but the overall
trend would be ever upward toward Utopia. It is not surprising, therefore,
that in his Shape of Things to Come Mr. Wells described the future history
of the world in rather glowing terms.
But in 1939 Mr. Wells had a rude awakening. World War II shattered
his Utopian dream. As a result, in 1945, a year before his death, Mr. Wells
published his last book titled Mind at the End of Its Tether (San Francisco:
Millet Books, 1973, iii). The book has been described as “a thin cry of
despair.” In it Mr. Wells acknowledges the failure of his predictions. One
chapter is titled “There Is No ‘Pattern of Things to Come’”-a candid
admission that his prophecy had missed the mark.

Predictions of psychics
That is the way it is with human predictions. They quite frequently fail.
The “Life” section of The Idaho Statesman of January 23,1995, carried an
article entitled “Psychics Couldn’t See Their Bad Year Coming.” In this
article, journalist Gene Emery, who has been tracking the predictions of
psychics since 1978, found that psychics “usually do horribly,” but that “for
1994 they did a little bit worse.” Here is a sampling of the forecasts they
made: “Frank Sinatra will be appointed ambassador to Italy;” “Madonna
was to marry a Middle Eastern sheik and become a ‘totally traditional’
wife;” “Charles Manson would undergo a sex change operation and would
be set free.”
Unlike the unreliable predictions of the psychics or even of sober
forecasters like Mr. Wells, the Bible offers what 2 Peter 1:19 calls “a more
sure word of prophecy.” The context of this statement is Jesus’
transfiguration. Peter was convinced that Christ would come again in power
and glory because he witnessed the transfiguration.

The more sure word of prophecy

Peter then says that we have a word that is more sure than his
eyewitness testimony. How can this be? Here is the answer. What Peter saw
on the mount of transfiguration convinced him that Jesus would return to this
earth in power and glory. But you and I were not there. We must take Peter’s
word that what he saw was proof of the Second Coming. Not so with Bible
prophecy. We who see the fulfillment of the Bible’s signs of Christ’s return
have evidence more reliable than Peter’s eyewitness testimony. We can see
the prophecies of the Second Coming fulfilling before our eyes. It is in this
sense that Bible prophecy is “more sure” than taking Peter’s word as an
eyewitness.

The Bible is like a high-seas chart

The Bible is like a high-seas chart by which a pilot guides a ship to its
destination. In a similar way, as we study the prophecies of the Bible
concerning Christ’s second coming and witness the fulfillment of these
predictions in our day, our confidence in last-day Bible prophecy, and
indeed in the Bible itself, is strengthened. Let me illustrate:
When I was four years old, my parents moved from Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, to Recife, located on the northeast bulge of South America. We made
the trip on an ocean liner. On the way, my father made friends with the
captain. One day the captain invited my father to come up to the bridge-and I
was allowed to go along! All I really remember is the pilot turning a big
wheel with many handles. I was too young to notice a large high-seas chart
in front of the wheel by which the pilot was guiding the ship. If I had been
old enough to understand and had examined the map, I would have seen the
coast of Brazil on the left and the Atlantic Ocean on the right as we sailed
north toward our destination.
Our ship arrived outside of Recife harbor about two o’clock in the
morning and stopped. The city takes its name from a coral reef that runs
parallel with the coast, making the channel into the harbor extremely
dangerous to navigate.
Mom and Dad woke us children up, dressed us, and led us up on deck
to the ship’s railing. As I stood by my father, peering into the darkness, Dad
pointed to a light bobbing up and down that was slowly coming toward us.
He said the light was on a rowboat that was bringing a pilot, who would
guide our ship into port. As the little boat approached, I could make out the
pilot dressed in white trousers and jacket standing on the bow of the
rowboat. Soon the little craft entered a bright circle of light that shone down
from our ship.
Suddenly I heard a loud clatter to my right as the sailors on our vessel
dumped a coil of rope ladder over the side. As I looked back to watch the
pilot, I saw him waiting for just the right wave to come along and lift his
little boat high enough so he could catch hold of the ladder and climb up into
the ship.
If I had gone up to the bridge this time and had been old enough to
compare the harbor map with the high-seas map, I would have discovered
that the only difference between the two charts was that the harbor map was
much more detailed and highlighted much more clearly the coral reefs and
sandbars. I would have noticed that at every significant point the Recife
harbor map agreed with the high-seas map.
The Bible is the Christian’s high-seas map. Its prophecies show us in
broad outline what lies ahead. Christians through the centuries have guided
their lives by its teachings, and they know its prophecies are trustworthy.

The Seventh-day Adventist’s harbor chart

As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we believe that as our vessel-our
church-nears its heavenly harbor, there are dangerous reefs that could cause
shipwreck of faith (see 1 Tim. 1:19), so God has given us a harbor chart to
help guide our vessel past the dangerous reefs that lie ahead. This chart is
the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy.
The Spirit of Prophecy is a body of writings penned by Ellen G. White,
who, we believe, was inspired of God. We believe that just as the Recife
harbor map agreed with the high-seas map at every significant point, so the
Spirit of Prophecy writings agree with the Bible at every significant point.
By comparing these writings with the Bible, we have concluded that they
are divinely inspired. The Bible is the time-tested high-seas chart by which
we know whether our harbor map, or any other harbor map for that matter,
is divinely inspired.
We make no apology for claiming that Ellen White was a prophet of
God and that her writings were divinely inspired. But someone may be
wondering: Aren’t prophets a thing of the past? Weren’t prophets only for
Bible times? Are God’s people in the last days to have the prophetic gift
among them? Let us see what the Bible says about this.

The gift of prophecy and God’s remnant church

In Revelation 12:17, we read—
The dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to
wage war on the remainder of her descendants, [on those] who obey God’s
commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Amplified).
This is obviously symbolic language, and we believe that the Bible is
its own best interpreter. So, let us allow the Bible to interpret the meaning
of these various symbols.
What does the dragon represent?
Rev. 12:9, says:
The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and
Satan (NKJV).
The dragon represents Satan. So by substitution we can say, “Satan
was furious [enraged] at the woman.” But what does this woman represent?
Speaking to the church in 2 Corinthians 11:2, the apostle Paul says:
I have betrothed you [the church] to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ (NKJV).
So, Satan is angry with God’s church, and he has set out to make war,
or persecute, the remainder or remnant of the church’s descendants. A
remainder or remnant is the last part of something.
Therefore, the remnant of the church’s descendants is the people of
God’s true church in the last days. Revelation 12:17 gives us the marks by
which we can identify these people. They (1) “obey God’s commandments”
and (2) “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The commandments of God

The expression “the commandments of God” seems obviously to refer
to the Ten Commandments, but let us permit the Bible to make this point.
Deuteronomy 4:13 says that God—
declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform,
that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone
(NKJV).
So God’s remnant people will keep the Ten Commandments-by His
enabling grace, of course.
But what is the testimony of Jesus Christ?
 The testimony of Jesus Christ
The angel of Revelation 19:10, explains to John—
I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony
of Jesus…. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (NKJV).
So the testimony of Jesus, which the remnant of God’s people possess,
is called the “spirit of prophecy.”
Concerning this testimony, or spirit of prophecy, the apostle Paul says
that
the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you [God’s church], so that
you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord
Jesus Christ.-1 Cor. 1:6, 7, NKJV.
This passage establishes three points: (1) “The testimony of Christ” is
one of the “gifts” (Eph. 4:11 calls it “prophets,” 1 Cor. 14:22 calls it
“prophesying,” Rom. 12:6 calls it “prophecy”; cf Rev. 22:9); (2) Christ
placed this gift in a church that is “eagerly waiting” for His “revelation,” or
second coming; and (3) He bestowed this gift to “confirm,” or set His seal
of approval upon, not just any church, but upon His true, last-day church.

Prophesying is for believers, not unbelievers

In 1 Corinthians 14:22 Paul sets forth an important principle regarding
the prophetic gift. He says that “prophesying is not for unbelievers but for
those who believe” (NKJV). In other words, the prophetic gift is for those
who, having tested it by the Bible and found it to be in harmony with the
Word of God, have accepted its authority. It is not “for unbelievers.” It is
not for those who do not, or who have not yet, accepted its authority.
This means that we, who believe in the divine inspiration of Ellen
White’s writings and accept them as authority, are free to use them with
those who hold the same point of view. There is nothing sinister or deceitful
about holding such a position. Christians of other faiths apply the same
principle when they preach Christ to the Jews. Bible Christians accept the
authority of both the Old and New Testaments, but Jews only accept the
authority of the Old Testament. As a consequence, Christians use the Old
Testament to convince Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah. However,
after a Jew accepts the New Testament as divinely inspired and its Christ as
the promised Messiah, Christians are free to use the entire Bible to
convince him or her of other New Testament teachings.

Ellen G. White and her writings

Some Christians look askance at Seventh-day Adventists because we
believe that the writings of Ellen White are divinely inspired. There are
even some Adventists who are embarrassed because statement number 17 of
our “Fundamental Beliefs” says—
One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an
identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of
Ellen G. White. As the Lord’s messenger, her writings are a continuing and
authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance,
instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the
standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested (Ministerial
Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Seventh-day
Adventists Believe…: A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines
[Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1988], 216).
The Bible has words of counsel for such Adventists, and this counsel
is equally applicable to those who call us heretics for believing that God
has bestowed the gift of prophecy on the Seventh-day Adventist Church in
the person of Ellen G. White and her writings. Here is what the Bible says
to those who look askance at latter-day manifestations of the prophetic gift:
Do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is
good-1 Thess. 5:20,21, RSV.
This inspired counsel admonishes Christians not to despise
prophesying. But it goes further. It challenges them to test prophesyings. In
other words, test the prophets and their writings, and if they prove to be
good, hold them fast-accept them as divinely inspired. But now the question
is: How shall we test prophesying?

How to test prophets and their prophesyings

Here is how the Bible tells us to test prophesyings:
Test No. 1: What does the prophet teach about Christ?
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they
are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By
this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.-1 John 4:1-3, NKJV.
The Bible declares that Christ was God—
manifested in the flesh.-1 Tim. 3:16, NKJV.
Thus, a true prophet will teach that Jesus Christ, who was very God,
became “the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5, NKJV)-yet all the while He
remained very God. Ellen White’s writings maintain this teaching
throughout. Anyone who has any question on this point should read her book
on the life of Christ, The Desire Ages. From beginning to end this book
exalts Jesus Christ as God manifested in the flesh, and what is true of this
book is true of all her other writings.
Test No. 2: What kind of spiritual fruit does the prophet produce?
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.-
Matt. 7:15, 16, NKJV.
A prophet is known by the spiritual fruit he or she bears. In other
words, by the kind of life he or she lives.
If a believer in Ellen White’s divine inspiration says that she was a
good person, that person could justly be considered biased. But if an enemy
acknowledges that she was a good woman, his or her testimony carries
weight. After all, the strongest argument in favor of a position is the
admission of the opposition.
Ellen White’s worst enemy (not that she considered him an enemy, but
that is the way he treated her after he left the church) was an ex-Seventh-day
Adventist minister by the name of Dudley M. Canright.
Ellen White died on July 16, 1915. Before her death Canright accused
her of being a false prophet. Yet at a memorial service held in her honor in
Battle Creek, Michigan, on July 24, 1915, this man, with tears streaming
down his face, confessed that she was “a good Christian woman.” Jasper
Canright, Dudley Canright’s brother, who was also an Adventist minister but
who remained faithful to his church, was present, along with other
witnesses, when Dudley made the following confession. Jasper left on
record the following affidavit (Jasper B. Canright letter to S. E. Wight,
dated February 24, 1931, quoted in I Was Canright’s Secretary, by Carrie
Johnson [Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1971] 105, 106).
Battle Creek, Michigan February 24,1931
Elder S. E. Wight
120 Madison Avenue, S.E.,
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Dear Elder Wight:
My brother, the late D. M. Canright, often told me to remain true to the
message. He said too: “If you give up the message, it will ruin your life.”
Many years ago in a public meeting at West Le Roy, where he had been
called to oppose the work of a Seventh Day Adventist minister, he made the
following statements: “I think I know why you have called me out here. You
expect me to prove from the Bible that Sunday is the Sabbath, and that
Saturday isn’t the Sabbath. Now, I can’t prove from the Bible that Sunday is
the Sabbath, for it isn’t there, and I think I can convince you that Saturday is
not the Sabbath [sic].“1
 Then again as he stood at Sister White’s casket with one hand in my
arm and the other on her coffin with tears streaming down his cheeks, he
said: “There’s a noble Christian woman gone.”
Sincerely yours in the blessed hope, (Signed) J. B. Canright
1. Saturday commences at midnight and ends at midnight. The Bible
Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown and ends on Saturday at sundown.
Hence Canright stated the matter correctly, Saturday in not the Sabbath.
This testimony of an eyewitness and blood brother of Dudley Canright
is more compelling than the testimony of a mere believer in the divine origin
of Ellen White’s writings.
Test No. 3: Do the prophet’s writings agree with the Ten
Commandments and the rest of the Bible? Listen to what Isaiah says:
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.-Isa. 8:20, NKJV.
This test consists of two parts: (1) What does the prophet teach with
respect to what God wrote-the Ten-Commandment law (Exod. 31:18)? and
(2) What does the prophet teach with respect to what the prophets wrote-the
testimony of the Bible writers? Applied to Ellen White and her writings, the
answer is: She consistently encouraged Christians to keep God’s law, and
by His grace she endeavored to faithfully keep all God’s commandments
herself-including the Sabbath commandment. With respect to the Bible, the
answer is: Her writings are in full agreement with the testimony of the Bible
prophets. Neither she nor her writings ever presumed to correct the Bible.
Rather, she and her writings accepted the Bible as it was written and ever
maintained the supremacy of Scripture.
Notice what she wrote in this regard:
Let everything be brought to the Bible; for it is the only rule of faith and
doctrine.- BEcho 15 October 1892.
While Ellen White’s writings frequently supply enlightening insights, at
every juncture where these insights are compared with the Bible, they are in
full agreement with Scripture.
Test No. 4: Do the prophet’s predictions come to pass?
When the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be
known as one whom the Lord has truly sent. -Jer. 28:9, NKJV.
The fulfillment of a prophet’s predictions is the fourth test that
establishes whether or not he or she is divinely inspired. In due time we
shall examine some predictions Ellen White has made, but first let us note
that-

All four tests must be applied

 The application of a single Bible test does not establish whether or not
a person is a prophet of God. Some false prophets may acknowledge that
Christ was God manifest in human flesh but fail one or more of the other
tests. Some may seemingly live godly lives but fail another test. Still others
may profess to keep God’s law and claim their writings harmonize with the
Bible-and this may actually appear to be the case-for a time-but after a
while, either they or their writings fail one or more of the other tests. And,
finally, some false prophets may predict things that actually come to pass but
fail one or more of the other tests. Hence, to establish that a prophet is
divinely inspired, he must pass all four Bible tests.

Predictions about religious conditions in the last days

We have established that Ellen White and her writings pass three of the
four Bible tests of a true prophet. The rest of this chapter deals with one of
her predictions, which we believe is currently in the process of fulfillment.
Many of her predictions have to do with religious intolerance in America
and the world in the last days. These prophecies will be the subject of the
rest of this book.
Over a century ago, at a time when Protestants openly opposed Roman
Catholics, Ellen White predicted—
The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their
hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over
the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of
this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in
trampling on the rights of conscience.-GC 588.
In the Review, June 1,1886, she explained how this would happen—
This union will not, however, be effected by a change in Catholicism;
for Rome never changes. She claims infallibility. It is Protestantism that will
change. The adoption of liberal ideas on its part will bring it where it can
clasp the hand of Catholicism.
She explains how the leading denominations in America will bring this
about:
When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such
points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to
enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant
America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the
infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.-GC 445.
Today we see America moving in the direction of fulfilling these
predictions. An article by Gustave Nieburh, captioned, “Religion, Politics
Can Mix,” states that:
 In evidence of a striking change in American attitudes about religion
and politics, a majority of the public now believes that churches should be
allowed to express political opinions, a reversal from what a majority
believed a generation ago, according to a new nationwide survey of
religious identity and political opinion.-Idaho Statesman, 25 June 1996,
citing the New York Times News Service.
Whether this trend will continue, accompanied by a shift toward
agitation for Sunday legislation, which Ellen White’s writings predict, as
we shall see in coming chapters, we do not know. Nor is it necessary that
we know. We base our faith not on surveys but on the sure word of
prophecy.

The Bible Belt and the coming crisis

In his booklet, Flirting With Rome: Evangelical Entanglement With
Roman Catholicism, David W. Cloud says that for more than thirty years
(since the 1960s) the Southern Baptist Convention has been reaching out to
Roman Catholics (Oak Harbor, Wa.: Way of Life Literature, 1993,3:4). Until
a few years ago the SBC was strongly anti-Catholic and one of the
staunchest supporters of separation of church and state in America.
In his recently published book, A Woman Rides the Beast, Dave Hunt,
who is not a Seventh-day Adventist but sees the danger posed by the so-
called Christian Coalition or religious right, states:
Increasing numbers of today’s evangelicals are accepting Catholics as
Christians and seem to find no problem in joining with them in the
evangelization of the world. That fact is made clear by the very title of the
historic joint declaration… by Catholic and evangelical leaders.-
Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the 3rd
Millennium (Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers, 1994,413).

What brings the Sunday-Sabbath issue to the fore?

Besides changes in the religious climate, today we are witnesses to
ecological changes that are beginning to affect the earth’s climate and
portend disasters of enormous consequence. We also see political
corruption and moral decay permeating, not only America, but society
everywhere on the globe. Notice what Ellen White predicted in this
connection long ago-As men depart further and further from God, Satan is
permitted to have power over the children of disobedience. He hurls
destruction among men.-RH16 July 1901.
Notice who is really causing these calamities and what Ellen White
forecasts will happen when these disasters strike:
 It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the
Sunday-sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease
until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who
present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for
Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine
favor and temporal prosperity.-GC 590.

Seventh-day Adventists, proclaimers of the sure word of prophecy, not

time-setters
These Satan-caused calamities predicted over a hundred years ago may
come more quickly than any of us expect. But whenever they come, we
should be spiritually prepared-and yet avoid being prognosticators or time-
setters. Ellen White cautions:
Again and again have I been warned in regard to time-setting. There
will never again [since 1844] be a message for the people of God that will
be based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ.-RH, 22 March
1892.
Elsewhere she admonishes:
It is not in the providence of God that any finite man shall, by any
device or reckoning that he may make of figures, or of symbols, or of types,
know with any definiteness in regard to the very period of the Lord’s
coming.-Ms 9, 1891, quoted in 10MR 272.
On the other hand, while avoiding being prognosticators or time-
setters, we are to “catch the steady tread of the events ordained by… [God]
to take place” (7714) and, when these events do take place, we are to
announce their fulfillment to the world.
What this means is that Adventists have not been raised up to be
prophets; we have been raised up to be proclaimers of the “sure word of
prophecy.” Thus, as we seek “to penetrate the mysteries of the future” (3SM
394), let us “not… be wise above what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6, Sharpe’s
translation) [translation not in version list]. When the Bible and the Spirit of
Prophecy clearly predict that certain events will occur in the future, we can
rest assured that those events will take place as predicted, but we are to set
no dates for them to happen-nor go farther than the sure word of prophecy
warrants.

Watch for the steady tread of events

Ellen White wrote in 1907: “I have a clear comprehension of what
will be in the future” (Lt 28,1907), and this clear comprehension of end-
time events is reflected in her clear and consistent apocalyptic predictions.
The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy writings give us many cause-and-effect
links between events that are to transpire in the future, but how much time
elapses between one event and the next is not revealed.
Since “the final movements will be rapid ones” (9T11), all of us will
probably be taken by surprise by the rapidity with which some of these
events will occur, for we are told that “the end will come more quickly than
men expect” (4SP 447).

The primary purpose of prophecy

God’s primary purpose in foretelling the future is not that we might
know the “day and hour” (Matt. 24:36, KJV) of Jesus’ coming or when
probation will close or when the Sunday law will be passed but that when
“the sure word of prophecy” comes to pass, we “may believe” (John 13:19,
NKJV)-and rejoice, “for… [our] redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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NORWAY PINE

Norway Pine
 NORWAY PINE
(Pinus Resinosa)

arly explorers who were not botanists mistook this tree for Norway

E spruce, and gave it the name which has since remained in nearly all
parts of its range. It is called red pine also, and this name is strictly
descriptive. The brown or red color of the bark is instantly noticed by
one who sees the tree for the first time. In the Lake States it has
been called hard pine for the purpose of distinguishing it from the softer
white pine with which it is associated. In England they call it Canadian red
pine, because the principal supply in England is imported from the
Canadian provinces.
Its chief range lies in the drainage basin of the St. Lawrence river, which
includes the Great Lakes and the rivers which flow into them.
Newfoundland forms the eastern and Manitoba the western outposts of
this species. It is found as far south as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
northern Ohio, central Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It conforms
pretty generally to the range of white pine but does not accompany that
species southward along the Appalachian mountain ranges across West
Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Where it was left to compete
in nature’s way with white pine, the contest was friendly, but white pine
got the best of it. The two species grew in intermixture, but in most
instances white pine had from five to twenty trees to Norway’s one. As a
survivor under adversity, however, the Norway pine appears to surpass its
great friendly rival, at least in the Lake States where the great pineries
once flourished and have largely passed away. Solitary or small clumps of
Norway pines are occasionally found where not a white pine, large or
small, is in sight.
The forest appearance of Norway pine resembles the southern yellow
pines. The stand is open, the trunks are clean and tall, the branches are at
the top. The Norway’s leaves are in clusters of two, and are five or six
inches long. They fall during the fourth or fifth year. Cones are two inches
long, and when mature, closely resemble the color of the tree’s bark, that
is, light chestnut brown. Exceptionally tall Norway pines may reach a
height of 150 feet, but the average is seventy or eighty, with diameters of
from two to four. Young trees are limby, but early in life the lower branches
die and fall, leaving few protruding stubs or knots. It appears to be a
characteristic that trunks are seldom quite straight. They do not have the
plumb appearance of forest grown white pine and spruce.
The wood of Norway pine is medium light, its strength and stiffness about
twenty-five per cent greater than white pine, and it is moderately soft. The
annual rings are rather wide, indicating rapid growth. The bands of
summerwood are narrow compared with the springwood, which gives a
generally light color to the wood, though not as light as the wood of white
pine. The resin passages are small and fairly numerous. The sapwood is
thick, and the wood is not durable in contact with the soil.
Norway pine has always had a place of its own in the lumber trade, but
large quantities have been marketed as white pine. If such had not been
the case, Norway pine would have been much oftener heard of during the
years when the Lake State pineries were sending their billions of feet of
lumber to the markets of the world.
Because of the deposit of resinous materials in the wood, Norway pine
stumps resist decay much better than white pine. In some of the early
cuttings in Michigan, where only stumps remain to show how large the
trees were and how thick they stood, the Norway stumps are much better
preserved than the white pine. Using that fact as a basis of estimate, it
may be shown that in many places the Norway pine constituted one-fifth
or one-fourth of the original stand. The lumbermen cut clean, and
statistics of that period do not show that the two pines were generally
marketed separately. In recent years many of the Norway stumps have
been pulled, and have been sold to wood-distillation plants where the rosin
and turpentine are extracted.
At an early date Norway pine from Canada and northern New York was
popular ship timber in this country and England. Slender, straight trunks
were selected as masts, or were sawed for decking planks thirty or forty
feet long. Shipbuilders insisted that planks be all heartwood, because
when sapwood was exposed to rain and sun, it changed to a green color,
due to the presence of fungus. The wood wears well as ship decking. The
British navy was still using some Norway pine masts as late as 1875.
The scarcity of this timber has retired it from some of the places which it
once filled, and the southern yellow pines have been substituted. It is still
employed for many important purposes, the chief of which is car building,
if statistics for the state of Illinois are a criterion for the whole country. In
1909 in that state 24,794,000 feet of it were used for all purposes, and
14,783,000 feet in car construction.
For many years Chicago has been the center of the Norway pine trade. It
is landed there by lake steamers and by rail, and is distributed to ultimate
consumers. The uses for the wood, as reported by Illinois manufacturers,
follow: Baskets, boxes, boats, brackets, casing and frames for doors and
windows, crating, derricks for well-boring machines, doors, elevators,
fixtures for stores and offices, foot or running boards for tank cars, foundry
flasks, freight cars, hand rails, insulation for refrigerator cars, ladders,
picture moldings, roofing, sash, siding for cattle cars, sign boards and
advertising signs, tanks, and windmill towers.
As with white pine, Norway pine has passed the period of greatest
production, though much still goes to market every year and will long
continue to do so. The land which lumbermen denuded in the Lake States,
particularly Michigan and Wisconsin, years ago, did not reclothe itself with
Norway seedlings. That would have taken place in most instances but for
fires which ran periodically through the slashings until all seedlings were
destroyed. In many places there are now few seedlings and few large trees
to bear seeds, and consequently the pine forest in such places is a thing of
the past. The outlook is better in other localities.
The Norway pine is much planted for ornament, and is rated one of the
handsomest of northern park trees.
Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). The name pitch pine is locally applied to almost every species of
hard, resinous pine in this country. The Pinus rigida has other names than pitch pine. In
Delaware it is called longleaved pine, since its needles are longer than the scrub pine’s
with which it is associated. For the same reason it is known in some localities as longschat
pine. In Massachusetts it is called hard pine, in Pennsylvania yellow pine, in North
Carolina and eastern Tennessee black pine, and black Norway pine in New York. The
botanical name is translated “rigid pine,” but the rigid refers to the leaves, not the wood.
Its range covers New England, New York, Pennsylvania, southern Canada, eastern Ohio,
and southward along the mountains to northern Georgia. It has three leaves in a cluster,
from three to five inches long, and they fall the second year. Cones range in length from
one to three inches, and they hang on the branches ten or twelve years. The wood is
medium light, moderately strong, but low in stiffness. It is soft and brittle. The annual
rings are wide, the summerwood broad, distinct, and very resinous. Medullary rays are
few but prominent; color, light brown or red, the thick sapwood yellow or often nearly
white. The difference in the hardness between springwood and summerwood renders it
difficult to work, and causes uneven wear when used as flooring. It is fairly durable in
contact with the soil.
The tree attains a height of from forty to eighty feet and a diameter of three. This pine is
not found in extensive forests, but in scattered patches, nearly always on poor soil where
other trees will not crowd it. Light and air are necessary to its existence. If it receives
these, it will fight successfully against adversities which would be fatal to many other
species. In resistance to forest fires, it is a salamander among trees. That is primarily due
to its thick bark, but it is favored also by the situations in which it is generally found—
open woods, and on soil so poor that ground litter is thin. It is a useful wood for many
purposes, and wherever it is found in sufficient quantity, it goes to market, but under its
own name only in restricted localities. Its resinous knots were once used in place of
candles in frontier homes. Tar made locally from its rich wood was the pioneer wagoner’s
axle grease, and the ever-present tar bucket and tar paddle swung from the rear axle.
Torches made by tying splinters in bundles answered for lanterns in night travel. It was
the best pine for floors in some localities. It is probably used more for boxes than for
anything else at present. In 1909 Massachusetts box makers bought 600,000 feet, and a
little more went to Maryland box factories. Its poor holding power on spikes limits its
employment as railroad ties and in shipbuilding. Carpenters and furniture makers object
to the numerous knots. Country blacksmiths who repair and make wagons as a side line,
find it suitable for wagon beds. It is much used as fuel where it is convenient.
Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana), called del mar pine and Soledad pine, is an interesting tree
from the fact that its range is so restricted that the actual number of trees could be easily
known to one who would take the trouble to count them. A rather large quantity formerly
occupied a small area in San Diego county, California, but woodchoppers who did not
appreciate the fact that they were exterminating a species of pine from the face of the
earth, cut nearly all of the trees for fuel. Its range covered only a few square miles, and
fortunately part of that was included in the city limits of San Diego. An ordinance was
passed prohibiting the cutting of a Torrey pine under heavy penalty, and the tree was thus
saved. A hundred and fifty miles off the San Diego coast a few Torrey pines grow on the
islands of Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, and owing to their isolated situation they bid fair to
escape the cordwood cutter for years to come. Those who have seen this tree on its
native hills have admired the gameness of its battle for existence against the elements.
Standing in the full sweep of the ocean winds, its strong, short branches scarcely move,
and all the agitation is in the thick tufts of needles which cling to the ends of the
branches. Trees exposed to the seawinds are stunted, and are generally less than a foot
in diameter and thirty feet high; but those which are so fortunate as to occupy sheltered
valleys are three or four times that size. The needles are five in a cluster. The cones
persist on the branches three or four years. The wood is light, soft, moderately strong,
very brittle; the rings of yearly growth are broad, and the yellow bands of summerwood
occupy nearly half. The sapwood is very thick and is nearly white.
WESTERN YELLOW PINE

Western Yellow Pine

 WESTERN YELLOW PINE
(Pinus Ponderosa)

he range of western yellow pine covers a million square miles. Its

T eastern boundary is a line drawn from South Dakota to western

Texas. The species covers much of the country between that line
and the Pacific ocean. It is natural that it should have more names
than one in a region so extensive. It is best known as western
yellow pine, but lumbermen often call it California white pine. The standing
timber is frequently designated bull pine, but that name is not often given
to the lumber. Where there is no likelihood of confusing it with southern
pines, it is called simply yellow pine. The name heavy-wooded pine,
sometimes applied to the lumber in England, is misleading. When well
seasoned it weighs about thirty pounds per cubic foot, and ordinarily it
would not be classed heavy. In California it is called heavy pine, but that is
to distinguish it from sugar pine which is considerably lighter. The color of
its bark has given it the name Sierra brownbark pine. The same tree in
Montana is called black pine.
The tree has developed two forms. Some botanists have held there are
two species, but that is not the general opinion. In the warm, damp
climate of the Pacific slope the tree is larger, and somewhat different in
appearance from the form in the Rocky Mountain region. The same
observation holds true of Douglas fir.
The wood of western yellow pine is medium light, not strong, is low in
elasticity, medullary rays prominent but not numerous; resinous, color light
to reddish, the thick sapwood almost white. The annual rings are variable
in width, and the proportionate amounts of springwood and summerwood
also vary. It is not durable in contact with the ground.
The wood is easy to work and some of the best of it resembles white pine,
but as a whole it is inferior to that wood, though it is extensively employed
as a substitute for it in the manufacture of doors, sash, and frames. It is
darker than white pine, harder, heavier, stronger, almost exactly equal in
stiffness, but the annual rings of the two woods do not bear close
resemblance.
The tree reaches a height of from 100 to 200 feet, a diameter from three
to seven. It is occasionally much larger. Its size depends much on its
habitat. The best development occurs on the Sierra Nevada mountains in
California and the best wood comes from that region, though certain other
localities produce high-grade lumber.
Western yellow pine holds and will long hold an important place in the
country’s timber resources. The total stand has been estimated at
275,000,000,000 feet, and is second only to that of Douglas fir, though the
combined stand of the four southern yellow pines is about
100,000,000,000 feet larger. It is a vigorous species, able to hold its
ground under ordinary circumstances. Next to incense cedar and the giant
sequoias which are associated with it in the Sierra Nevada mountains, it is
the most prolific seed bearer of the western conifers, and its seeds are
sufficiently light to insure wide distribution. It is gaining ground within its
range by taking possession of vacant areas which have been bared by
lumbering or fire. In some cases it crowds to death the more stately sugar
pine by cutting off its light and moisture. It resists fire better than most of
the forest trees with which it is associated. On the other hand, it suffers
from enemies more than its associates do. A beetle (Dendroctonus
ponderosæ), destroys large stands. In the Black Hills in 1903 its ravages
killed 600,000,000 feet.
This splendid pine has run the gamut of uses from the corral pole of the
first settler to the paneled door turned out by the modern factory. It has
almost an unlimited capacity for usefulness. It grows in dry regions of the
Rocky Mountains where it is practically the only source of wood supply;
and it is equally secure in its position where forests are abundant and fine.
It has supplied props, stulls, and lagging for mines in nearly every state
touched by its range. Without its ties and other timbers some of the early
railroads through the western mountains could scarcely have been built. It
has been one of the leading flume timbers in western lumber and irrigation
development. It fenced many ranches in early times and is still doing so. It
is used in general construction, and in finish; from the shingle to the
foundation sill of houses. It finds its way to eastern lumber markets.
Almost 20,000,000 feet a year are used in Illinois alone. Competition with
eastern white pine is met in the Lake States because, grade for grade, the
western wood is cheaper, until lower grades are reached. The western
yellow pine, in the eastern market, is confused with the western white pine
of Idaho and Montana (Pinus monticola) and separate statistics of use are
impossible.
The makers of fruit boxes in California often employ the yellow pine in lieu
of sugar pine which once supplied the whole trade. It is also used by
coopers for various containers, but not for alcoholic liquors.
The leaves are in clusters of twos and threes, and are from five to eleven
inches long. Most of them fall during the third year. The cones are from
three to six inches long, and generally fall soon after they reach maturity.
Coulter Pine (Pinus coulteri) is also known as nut pine, big cone pine, and long cone pine.
It is a California species, scarce, but of much interest because of its cones. They are
larger than those of any other American pine and are armed with formidable curved
spines from half an inch to an inch and a half in length. The cones are from ten to
fourteen inches long. The tree is found on the Coast Range mountains from the latitude
of San Francisco to the boundary between California and Mexico. It thrives at altitudes of
from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. It never occurs in pure stands and the total amount is small. It
looks like the western yellow pine, but is much inferior in size. Trunks seldom attain a
length of fifteen feet or a diameter of two. There is no evidence that Coulter pine is
increasing its stand on the ground which it already occupies, or spreading to new ground.
The wood is light, soft, moderately strong, and very tough. The annual rings are narrow
and consist largely of summerwood. The heartwood is light red, the thick sapwood nearly
white. It is a poor tree for lumber, and it has been little used in that way, but has been
burned for charcoal for blacksmith shops, and much is sold as cordwood. The leaves of
Coulter pine are in clusters of three, and they fall during the third and fourth years.
California Swamp Pine (Pinus muricata) clearly belongs among minor species listed as
timber trees. It meets a small demand for skids, corduroy log roads, bridge floors, and
scaffolds in the redwood logging operations in California. It is scattered along the Pacific
coast 500 miles, beginning in Lower California and ending a hundred miles north of San
Francisco. It is known as dwarf marine pine, pricklecone pine, bishop pine, and obispo
pine. The last name is the Spanish translation of the English word bishop. The largest
trees seldom exceed two feet in diameter, and a height of ninety feet. The average size is
little more than half as much. The wood is very strong, hard, and compact, and the
annual growth ring is largely dense summerwood. Resin passages are few, but the wood
is resinous, light brown in color, and the thick sapwood is nearly white. The needles are in
clusters of two, and are from four to six inches long. They begin to fall the second year.
Some of the trees retain their cones until death, but the seeds are scattered from year to
year. Under the stimulus of artificial conditions in the redwood districts this pine seems to
be spreading. Its seeds blow into vacant ground from which redwood has been removed,
and growth is prompt. The seedlings are not at all choice as to soil, but take root in cold
clay, in peat bogs, on barren sand and gravel, and on wind-swept ridges exposed to
ocean fogs. Its ability to grow where few other trees can maintain themselves holds out
some hope that its usefulness will increase.
Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata). This scarce and local species is restricted to the California
coast south of San Francisco, and to adjacent islands. Under favorable circumstances it
grows rapidly and promises to be of more importance as a lumber source in the future
than it has been in the past. It is, however, somewhat particular as to soil. It must have
ground not too wet or too dry. If these requirements are observed, it is a good tree for
planting. Its average height is seventy or ninety feet, diameter from eighteen to thirty
inches. Trunks six feet in diameter are occasionally heard of. The wood is light, soft,
moderately strong, tough, annual rings very wide and largely of springwood; color, light
brown, the very thick sapwood nearly white. The leaves are from four to six inches long,
in clusters of two and three, and fall the third year. Cones are from three to five inches
long. The lumber is too scarce at present to have much importance, but its quality is
good. In appearance it resembles wide-ringed loblolly pine, and appears to be suitable for
doors and sash, and frames for windows and doors. Its present uses are confined chiefly
to ranch timbers and fuel. If it ever amounts to much as a lumber resource, it will be as a
planted pine, and not in its natural state.
Jack Pine (Pinus divaricata) is a far northern species which extends its range southward in
the United States, from Maine to Minnesota, and reaches northern Indiana and Illinois. It
grows almost far enough north in the valley of Mackenzie river to catch the rays of the
midnight sun. It must necessarily adapt itself to circumstances. When these are favorable,
it develops a trunk up to two feet in diameter and seventy feet tall; but in adversity, it
degenerates into a many-branched shrub a few feet high. The average tree in the United
States is thirty or forty feet tall, and a foot or more in diameter. Its name is intended as a
term of contempt, which it does not deserve. Others call it scrub pine which is little better.
Its other names are more respectful, Prince’s pine in Ontario, black pine in Wisconsin and
Minnesota, cypress in Quebec and the Hudson Bay country, Sir Joseph Banks’ pine in
England, and juniper in some parts of Canada. “Chek pine” is frequently given in its list of
names, but the name is said to have originated in an attempt of a German botanist to
pronounce “Jack pine” in dictating to a stenographer. The tree straggles over landscapes
which otherwise would be treeless. It is often a ragged and uncouth specimen of the
vegetable kingdom, but that is when it is at its worst. At its best, as it may be seen where
cared for in some of the Michigan cemeteries, it is as handsome a tree as anyone could
desire. The characteristic thinness and delicacy of its foliage distinguish it at once from its
associates. The peculiar green of its soft, short needles wins admiration. The wood is
light, soft, not strong; annual rings are moderately wide, and are largely composed of
springwood. The thin bands of summerwood are resinous, and the small resin ducts are
few. The thick sapwood is nearly white, the heartwood brown or orange. It is not durable.
Jack pine can never be an important timber tree, because too small; but a considerable
amount is used for bed slats, nail kegs, plastering lath, barrel headings, boxes, mine
props, pulpwood, and fuel. Aside from its use as lumber and small manufactured
products, it has a value for other purposes. It can maintain its existence in waste sands;
and its usefulness is apparent in fixing drifting dunes along some of the exposed shores
of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It lives on dry sand and sends its roots several feet
to water; or, under circumstances entirely different, it thrives in swamps where the
watertable is little below the surface of the ground. It fights a brave battle against
adversities while it lasts, but it does not live long. Sixty years is old age for this tree. It
grows fast while young, but later it devotes all its energies to the mere process of living,
and its increase in size is slow, until at a period when most trees are still in early youth, it
dies of old age, and the northern winds quickly whip away its limbs, leaving the barkless
trunk to stand a few years longer.
LODGEPOLE PINE

Lodgepole Pine
 LODGEPOLE PINE
(Pinus Contorta)

he common name of this tree was given it because its tall, slender,

T very light poles were used by Indians of the region in the

construction of their lodges. They selected poles fifteen feet long
and two inches in diameter, set them in a circle, bent the tops
together, tied them, and covered the frame with skins or bark. The
poles were peeled in early summer, when the Indians set out upon their
summer hunt, and were left to season until fall, when they were carried to
the winter’s camping place, probably fifty miles distant. Tamarack is a
common name for this pine in much of its range; it is likewise known as
black pine, spruce pine, and prickly pine. Its leaves are from one to two
inches long, in clusters of two. The small cones adhere to the branches
many years—sometimes as long as twenty—without releasing the seeds,
which are sealed within the cone by accumulated resin. The vitality of the
seeds is remarkable. They don’t lose their power of germination during
their long imprisonment.
The lodgepole pine has been called a fire tree, and the name is not
inappropriate. It profits by severe burning, as some other trees of the
United States do, such as paper birch and bird cherry. The sealed cones
are opened by fire, which softens the resin, and the seeds are liberated
after the fire has passed, and wing their flight wherever the wind carries
them. The passing fire may be severe enough to kill the parent tree
without destroying or bringing down the cones. The seeds soon fall on the
bared mineral soil, where they germinate by thousands. More than one
hundred thousand small seedling trees may occupy a single acre. Most of
them are ultimately crowded to death, but a thick stand results. Most
lodgepole pine forests occupy old burns. The tree is one of the slowest of
growers. It never reaches large size—possibly three feet is the limit. It is
very tall and slender. A hundred years will scarcely produce a sawlog of the
smallest size.
The range of this tree covers a million square miles from Alaska to New
Mexico, and to the Pacific coast. Its characters vary in different parts of its
range. A scrub form was once thought to be a different species, and was
called shore pine.
The wood is of about the same weight as eastern white pine. It is light in
color, rather weak, and brittle, annual rings very narrow, summerwood
small in amount, resin passages few and small; medullary rays numerous,
broad, and prominent. The wood is characterized by numerous small
knots. It is not durable in contact with the ground, but it readily receives
preservative treatment. In height it ranges from fifty to one hundred feet.
The government’s estimate of the stand of lodgepole pine in the United
States in 1909 placed it at 90,000,000,000 feet. That makes it seventh in
quantity among the timber trees of this country, those above it being
Douglas fir, the southern yellow pines (considered as one), western yellow
pine, redwood, western hemlock, and the red cedar of Washington,
Oregon, and Idaho.
Lodgepole pine has been long and widely used as a ranch timber in the Far
West, serving for poles and rails in fences, for sheds, barns, corrals, pens,
and small bridges. Where it could be had at all, it was generally plentiful.
Stock ranges high among the mountains frequently depend almost solely
upon lodgepole pine for necessary timber.
Mine operators find it a valuable resource. As props it is cheap, substantial,
and convenient in many parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and
Montana. A large proportion of this timber which is cut for mining purposes
has been standing dead from fire injury many years, and is thoroughly
seasoned and very light. It is in excellent condition for receiving
preservative treatment.
Sawmills do not list lodgepole pine separately in reports of lumber cut, and
it is impossible to determine what the annual supply from the species is. It
is well known that the quantity made into lumber in Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, and Idaho is large. Its chief market is among the newly
established agricultural communities in those states. They use it for fruit
and vegetable shipping boxes, fencing plank, pickets, and plastering lath.
Railroads buy half a million lodgepole pine crossties yearly. When
creosoted, they resist decay many years. Lodgepole pine has been a tie
material since the first railroads entered the region, and while by no means
the best, it promises to fill a much more important place in the future than
in the past. It is an ideal fence post material as far as size and form are
concerned, and with preservative treatment it is bound to attain a high
place. It is claimed that treated posts will last twenty years, and that puts
them on a par with the cedars.
In Colorado and Wyoming much lodgepole was formerly burned for
charcoal to supply the furnaces which smelted ore and the blacksmith
shops of the region. This is done now less than formerly, since railroad
building has made coal and coke accessible.
In one respect, lodgepole pine is to the western mountains what loblolly
pine is to the flat country of the south Atlantic and other southern states.
It is aggressive, and takes possession of vacant ground. Although the
wood is not as valuable as loblolly, it is useful, and has an important place
to fill in the western country’s development. Its greatest drawback is its
exceedingly slow growth. A hundred years is a long time to wait for trees
of pole size. Two crops of loblolly sawlogs can be harvested in that time.
However, the land on which the lodgepole grows is fit only for timber, and
the acreage is so vast that there is enough to grow supplies, even with the
wait of a century or two for harvest. The stand has increased enormously
within historic time, the same as loblolly, and for a similar reason. Men
cleared land in the East, and loblolly took possession; fires destroyed
western forests of other species and lodgepole seized and held the burned
tracts.
If fires cease among the western mountains, as will probably be the case
under more efficient methods of patrol, and with stricter enforcement of
laws against starting fires, the spread of lodgepole pine will come to a
standstill, and existing forests will grow old without much extension of
their borders.
Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi) is often classed as western yellow pine, both in
the forest and at the mill. Its range extends from southern Oregon to
Lower California, a distance of 1,000 miles, and its width east and west
varies from twenty to one hundred and fifty miles. It is a mountain tree
and generally occupies elevations above the western yellow pine. In the
North its range reaches 3,600 feet above sea level; in the extreme South it
is 10,000 feet. The darker and more deeply-furrowed bark of the Jeffrey
pine is the usual character by which lumbermen distinguish it from the
western yellow pine. It is known under several names, most of them
relating to the tree’s appearance, such as black pine, redbark pine,
blackbark pine, sapwood pine, and bull pine. It reaches the same size as
the western yellow pine, though the average is a little smaller. The leaves
are from four to nine inches long, and fall in eight or nine years. The cones
are large, and armed with slender, curved spines. The seeds are too heavy
to fly far, their wing area being small. It is a vigorous tree, and in some
regions it forms good forests. Some botanists have considered the Jeffrey
pine a variety of the western yellow pine.
Gray Pine (Pinus sabiniana), called also Digger pine because the Digger Indians formerly
collected the seeds, which are as large as peanuts, to help eke out a living, is confined to
California, and grows in a belt on the foothills surrounding the San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys. Its cones are large and armed with hooked spines. When green, the
largest cones weigh three or four pounds. Leaves are from eight to twelve inches long, in
clusters of two and three, and fall the third and fourth years. The wood is remarkable for
the quickness of its decay in damp situations. It lasts one or two years as fence posts. A
mature gray pine is from fifty to seventy feet high, and eighteen to thirty inches in
diameter. Some trees are much larger. It is of considerable importance, but is not in the
same class as western yellow and sugar pine. The wood is light, soft, rather strong,
brittle. The annual rings are generally wide, indicating rapid growth. Very old gray pines
are not known. An age of 185 years seems to be the highest on record. The wood is
resinous, and it has helped in a small way to supply the Pacific coast markets with high-
grade turpentine, distilled from roots. It yields resin when boxed like the southern
longleaf pine. There are two flowing seasons. One is very early, and closes when the
weather becomes hot; the other is in full current by the middle of August. It maintains life
among the California foothills during the long rainless seasons, on ground so dry that
semi-desert chaparral sometimes succumbs; but it is able to make the most of favorable
conditions, and it grows rapidly under the slightest encouragement. The seedlings are
more numerous now than formerly, which is attributed to decrease of forest fires. The
tree has enemies which generally attack it in youth. Two fungi, Peridermium harknessi,
and Dædalia vorax, destroy the young tree’s leader or topmost shoot, causing the
development of a short trunk. The latter fungus is the same or is closely related to that
which tunnels the trunk of incense cedar and produces pecky cypress.
Gray pine has been cut to some extent for lumber, but its principal uses have been as fuel
and mine timbers. Many quartz mines have been located in the region where the tree
grows; and the engines which pumped the shafts and raised and crushed the ore were
often heated with this pine. Thousands of acres of hillsides in the vicinity of mines were
stripped of it, and it went to the engine house ricks in wagons, on sleds, and on the backs
of burros. In two respects it is an economical fuel for remote mines: it is light in weight,
and gives more heat than an equal quantity of the oak that is associated with it.
Chihuahua Pine (Pinus chihuahuana) is not abundant, but it exists in small commercial
quantities in southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona. Trees are from fifty to
eighty feet high, and from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter. The wood is medium light,
soft, rather strong, brittle, narrow ringed and compact. The resin passages are few, large,
and conspicuous; color, clear light orange, the thick sapwood lighter. The tree reaches
best development at altitudes of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. When the wood is used, it
serves the same purposes as western yellow pine; but the small size of the tree makes
lumber of large size impossible. The leaves are in clusters of three, and fall the fourth
year. The cones have long stalks and are from one and a half to two inches long.
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