St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-03-29
TO PRESERVE THE RED CEDAR
Forestry Experts study the Problem
of Keeping Up the supply In
the South.

The division of forestry in the ma.
tional department of agriculture is
sued a bulletin recently on the mat
ter of the reproduction and mainte-
nance of the red cedar in this country.
The ightness, softness and even grain
of this wood have made it much
sought after of forest products, says
the New York Sun.
It's most general use is in the manu-.
facture of lead pencils. Then it has a
place in small cooperage, such as the
manufacture of tubs, buckets and
churns. A larger use is for furniture
and bodybuilding.
Still larger is the use of it in tele-
phone and telegraph poles, piles for
building structures over water, and
railroad ties. It has also an extensive
place in shipbuilding, and in the cigar
trade for boxes. The wood takes a
high polish and its resistance to decay
makes it especially valuable.
The red cedar of the south Atlantic
states is the most desirable CONNER
cially of all the varieties. The stock
is becoming so depleted that factories
where it is being worked up are being
moved constantly.
No statistics have been secured to
show the extent of this depletion, but
one firm that makes lead pencils told
the agricultural department recently
that the product of at least $4,000 red
cedar trees, involving more than $780,
900 cubic feet of that wood, are used
every year in this country for lead pen
ellis. The firm also said that $4,000
cubic feet of it were exported annually
Falkville, Ala, has been leading
shipping place for cedar telegraph
poles. The Western Union Telegraph
company has used it as base of sup
plies for the southern states for nearly
10 years. It has sent from there on an
average of 175,OOO poles of red cedar
every year.
In 1890 this company sent out $500
carloads of IS poles each from Falk-
Vile. Some of the trees cut down were
100 years old. The cedar is now nearly
gone and long hauls are necessary to
get it ready for shipment.
In every state in the south there
comes story of curtailment of the
cedar product and the removal of mills
engaged in using it in manufacture.
he price is going up also.
Formerly it could be found anywhere
in Florida. Now it is found in abund-
ance only on the western coast. In
great tracts of Tennessee the virgin
growth of the cedar has disappeared
with that of black walnut. In Texas it
is extinct practically in the Brazos and
Colorado river valleys.
There is hardly another tree that
shows a greater Indifference to soil
and climate than the red cedar. It
grows best in the northern states
where there is marked deposit of lime
in the soil.
1t is scattered irregularly through
the Maritime pine belt, which crosses
Alabama with a width of about IS
miles. It terminates slowly, but it
grows quite rapidly after being started.
The tree keeps on growing for fully
$50 years and often reaches height
of 80 feet. The trunks sometimes are
20 inches in diameter.
The forestry division finds that the
red cedar reproduces itself freely espe-
cially because of it's power to endure
shade. recommends protection from
fire and live stock and a slight modifica-
ton of numbering methods. On bar