If no pores appear under the magnifying lens, look closely for resin ducts.  If these are found, note whether they are large or small, numerous or scattered, open or closed, lighter or darker than the wood.  Note also whether the late wood is very heavy and hard, showing a decided contrast to the early wood, or fairly soft and grading into the early wood without abrupt change.  Weigh the piece in your hand, smell a fresh-cut surface to detect the odor, if any, and taste a chip to see if anything characteristic is discoverable.  Then turn to the following key: 

KEY

I. WOODS WITHOUT PORES—­CONIFERS OR SO-CALLED “SOFTWOODS”

A. Woods 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.