Hello,
I recently sanded the floors down in a bedroom, they are at least 50 year old boards, and I was hoping that someone could identify the type of wood that it is. I have a good feeling it is pine, but would like to verify with someone that knows more than me.
If it is pine I have read that staining them is a bad idea. Is this information correct, and is better to just go right to poly.
Image https://postimg.org/image/y40na1jpz/
(boards are not completely finished)
Thank you

The floor does look like pine. I like to stain pine instead of having a yellow or orange colored floor. The stains that work best will be a combination of pigment and dye, if you use a solvent based stain. There are some good water-based dyes that have good color. Check Shermin-Williams water dyes.
Older finishes would have a brown color from the linseed oil varnishes. This color helps anchor the floor with the architecture. The yellow color of poly-urethane, which some people like, will show wear as dents fill with black dirt over time as the floor becomes embossed by foot traffic.

It definitely looks like pine, and you'll know for certain when you sand it. Pine has a very strong scent when sanded. We've had beautiful results, sanding and refinishing very old pine flooring. The key to getting the stain to absorb evenly is a method called "water-popping." After the sanding is completed, the floor is vacuumed and a water mist is applied; running parallel to the boards, wipe the misted water from one end of the room to the other (board by board). Water popping is an excellent way to open the grains of the wood planks, allowing for your stain to penetrate. We have successfully used miniwax oil-based penetrating stain when refinishing old pine flooring. Just make sure the water-popped floor is completely dry before applying any stain and always work your way out of a room, making sure you're not walking on the damp floor.