Editing Pinus strobus (section)

=== Lumber ===
In the 19th century, the harvesting of [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] white pine forests played a major role in America's [[Territorial evolution of the United States|westward expansion]] through the [[Great Plains]]. A quarter-million white pines were harvested and sent to lumber yards in Chicago in a single year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronon |first=William |title=Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West |year=1991 |publisher=W. W. Norton and Company |location=New York, NY |pages=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7OCQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183 |isbn=9780393072457}}</ref>

The white pine had aesthetic appeal to contemporary [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalists]] such as [[Henry David Thoreau]] ("There is no finer tree.")<ref>{{cite book |last=Thoreau |first=Henry David |title=The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal |year=1861 |pages=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_URAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA33}}</ref> Beyond that, it had [[logging|commercial applications]]. It was considered "the most sought and most widely utilized of the various forest growths of the [[Northwest Territory|northwest]]."<ref name="Hotchkiss 1861 752">{{cite book |last=Hotchkiss |first=George Woodward |title=History of the Lumber and Forest Industry of the Northwest |year=1861 |pages=752 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5c4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA752}}</ref> Descriptions of its uses are quoted below from a 19th-century source:

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|quote = Being of a soft texture and easily worked, taking paint better than almost any other variety of wood, it has been found adaptable to all the uses demanded in the building art, from the manufacture of packing cases to the bearing timber and finer finish of a dwelling. Of light weight, it has borne transportation to the farms of the west, where it is used for building purposes in dwellings, barns, and corn cribs, while as a fencing material it has no superior. Aside from those conditions which demand a dense strong timber, such as ship-building or in wagon-making, white pine has been found adaptable to all the economic uses in which lumber is required, not excluding its use in coarser articles of furniture. No wood has found greater favor or entered more fully into supplying all those wants of man which could be found in the forest growths.<ref name="Hotchkiss 1861 752" />
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The species was imported in 1620 to England by Captain [[George Weymouth]], who planted it for a timber crop, but had little success because of white pine blister rust disease.

Old-growth pine in the Americas, of various ''Pinus'' species, was a highly desired wood since huge, knot-free boards were the rule rather than the exception. Pine was common and easy to cut, thus many colonial homes used pine for paneling, floors, and furniture. Pine was also a favorite tree of loggers, since pine logs can still be processed in a lumber mill a year or more after being cut down. In contrast, most hardwood trees such as cherry, maple, oak, and ash must be cut into 1" thick boards immediately after felling, or else large cracks will develop in the trunk which can render the wood worthless.<ref name=ling /><ref name=":0" />

Although eastern white pine was frequently used for flooring in buildings constructed before the [[U.S. Civil War]], the wood is soft and tends to cup over time with wear. [[George Washington]] opted for the much harder [[southern yellow pine]] at Mount Vernon, instead.<ref name=ling />