In the toast made by one of the heroes of the film "Prisoner of the Caucasus or Shurik's New Adventures" - remember: "... because he counted exactly how many grains are in the bag, how many drops in the sea", etc., you can add words about the number of pines on our planet. Pine trees are found in the Northern Hemisphere in rather limited (in terms of hemisphere area) territories. However, this does not prevent this tree from being the first in the world in terms of prevalence, if we take into account the growing area, and, at least, the second in the total number of trees (some experts believe that there are more larch trees in this respect). Both indicators, of course, are very relative - who will accurately calculate not just the number of trees, but also the area of their growth with an accuracy of at least a hundred square kilometers in the green sea of the taiga?
An unpretentious pine tree manages to be zoned in places that very little correspond to its natural habitat: thin stony soils, lack of moisture and lack of competition from tall grasses and undergrowth. Baron von Falz-Fein planted pine groves on two-meter black soil in the southern steppe. A similar pine grove still adorns the former estate of the Prokofievs in the Donbass. Extensive pine plantations were carried out within the framework of Stalin's plan to transform nature. Almost no one remembers this plan, and artificial pine forests and groves still give the pleasure of nature to millions of people.
If it were not for the geographical and biological conditions, pine would be an ideal tree for artificial landscaping. This tree has practically no natural pests - too many resins and phytoncides contain pine wood and needles. Accordingly, the arrays of pine trees are surprisingly clean and transparent, and being in them (if, God forbid, you are not lost) is a sheer pleasure. And from a utilitarian point of view, pine is almost an ideal material for various joinery, construction and modern chemistry.
1.From the point of view of all religions, beliefs, cults, and even in magic, pine is a tree that symbolizes extremely positive things. You need to try very hard to find that good quality that the pine would not symbolize. She is a symbol of immortality, longevity, fidelity in marriage, high harvest, rich offspring of livestock and other virtues, including, at the same time, and virginity. The pine tree Christmas ceremonies also symbolize good things. Christmas symbols came to continental Europe from Scandinavia.
2. During the Great Patriotic War, pine saved at least hundreds of thousands of lives. The most severe deficiency of vitamin C was felt both at the front and in the rear. Yes, no one would pay attention to this deficiency - when there are not enough elementary foods, few people pay attention to vitamins - they would eat better. The Soviet government did not leave the problem to chance. Already in April 1942, a meeting was held in Rostov the Great, at which it was decided to start the production of vitamin preparations and vitamin supplements from pine needles as soon as possible. Technologies were developed for harvesting, storing, primary preparation of needles, as well as the actual process of extracting glucose and vitamin C from it. The needles taste very bitter, so a technology for separating resinous and bitter substances had to be invented. It is clear that in the most difficult war years there was no time for chemical or technical delights. A simple and elegant battery technology for processing pine needles was created. Finally, the bitterness was removed by fermentation. This is how fruit drink was obtained, 30 - 50 grams of which provided the daily requirement for vitamin C. However, not all of the juice was fermented. Fruit drink in its pure form was added to kvass or mash (yes, without fish, that is, without vitamins, and the mash was a help, therefore it was produced at state and artisan breweries). At the end of the war, they learned how to prepare a concentrate. 10 grams of concentrate was enough for a daily dose of vitamin C.
3. For a person who has never seen the taiga, it is the pine that will be the first association with this concept. However, despite the abundance of pine trees, they are not dominant in the taiga. Indeed, the pine taiga can be considered in the Urals region. In other territories, it is outnumbered by other trees. In Northern Europe, the taiga is dominated by spruce, on the American continent, spruce forests are heavily diluted with larch. And in the vast territories of Siberia and the Far East, larch predominates. Pine is present here only in the form of dwarf cedar - a small tree of the pine family. Due to its size, dwarf cedar is sometimes called a shrub. It grows so densely that a person can ski right along the tops of the elfin covered with snow.
4. If an incision is made on a pine tree, resin will come out almost immediately from it, it is called resin - a healing wound. People are very shortsighted to use resin for the production of rosin, turpentine and products based on them. In fact, the resin consists of 70% rosin and 30% turpentine practically without impurities. But it is worth putting the resin under pressure and waiting several tens of millions of years, and you can get precious amber. Seriously, the distribution and size of amber deposits in Europe show how widespread pine was in the Upper Cretaceous. Annually only on the sea coast throws up to 40 tons of amber. Production in large deposits amounts to hundreds of tons per year.
5. Pines are usually covered with light brown bark. But the Bunge pine is covered with an unusual white bark. In this tree, named after the Russian explorer Alexander Bunge, who was the first to describe this pine, the peeling scales of the bark acquire a white color unusual for pine. Bunge not only described a pine tree later named after him, but also brought seeds to Russia. The tree turned out to be poorly cold-tolerant, but it was successfully zoned in the Caucasus and Crimea. There he can be found even now. Hobbyists successfully grow the Bunge pine as bonsai.
6. Pine has been actively used in shipbuilding at all times. True, not all types of pine are suitable for shipbuilding. Suitable ones are grouped under the name "ship pine". In fact, these are at least three types. The most valuable of these is the yellow pine. Its wood is lightweight, durable and highly resinous. Such characteristics allow the use of yellow pine for the manufacture of masts and other spars. Red pine, as the most textured and aesthetically pleasing type, is used for external and internal decoration and horizontal load-bearing elements such as deck and bilge flooring. White pine is mainly used to create auxiliary elements, from which special strength is not required.
7. In the north of St. Petersburg is the Udelny Park. Now it is known primarily as a resting place. But it was founded as a grove of ship pines personally by Peter I. The fact is that, with all the forest wealth of Russia, there was not much forest suitable for building ships. Therefore, the first Russian emperor paid special attention to planting new and preserving existing forests. Despite the fact that the pine tree grows to marketable size for at least 60 years, and during his lifetime the pine trees clearly would not have had time to go to the shipyard, Peter I personally planted new pine trees. Amazing foresight for an extravagant emperor! One of these trees, according to legend, grows in the Udelny Park.
8. Pine is a popular material for making furniture. Among the advantages, of course, is the smell of essential oils emitted by pine furniture. In addition, the presence of phytoncides makes pine furniture, or rather its aroma, an excellent prophylactic agent. Furniture made of high quality pine is environmentally friendly and not susceptible to mold. It can be easily restored: cracks and chips are rubbed with wax. The flip side of the coin: there is a high probability of running into furniture made of poorly dried boards. The location of pine furniture is limited by a number of factors. Such furniture should not be placed in places illuminated by the sun, near heat sources, and where there is a risk of mechanical damage - pine has fragile wood. Well, like any solid wood furniture, pine furniture is much more expensive than pieces of chipboard furniture, which are widespread in wide use.
9. Fruits of almost all widespread pine species are very tasty, nutritious and healthy. The largest seeds are given by the Italian pine, but this is more likely due to the ideal habitat for trees - the soil in Italy is not too rich, but stony, Italian pines grow in the middle mountains, while the climate is warm and humid. It is difficult to expect the same productivity from pines growing in Mediterranean Italy and the harsh conditions of the subpolar Urals or Lapland.
10. Such a colorful and varied tree, like a pine, has attracted, and more than once, the attention of painters. Painting in Japan and China is generally based on the classics - images of pine trees in endless series of genre paintings. Alexey Savrasov (several paintings and many watercolors), Arkhip Kuindzhi, Isaac Levitan, Sergey Frolov, Yuri Klever, Paul Cezanne, Anatoly Zverev, Camille Corot, Paul Signac and many other artists depicted pines in their canvases. But apart, of course, is the work of Ivan Shishkin. This outstanding Russian artist dedicated dozens of paintings to pines. In general, he loved to paint trees and forests, but he paid special attention to pines.
