The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1902-03-06
70 PRESERVE THE RED CEDAR
Forestry Experts study the Profile m
of Keeping Up the supply In
the south.

The division OF forestry In the ma.
tional department of agriculture is
sued n bulletin recently on the mat
ter of the reprod uction and mainte-
nance Of the red cedar In this country.
The lightness, softness and even grain
OF this wood have made IL 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 II has a
place In small coopcrage. such as the
manufacture Of tubs. buckets and
churns. A larger use IN for furniture
and bodybuilding.
Still larger Is the use OF II in tcle-
phone and telegraph poles, piles for
building structures over water. and
railroad ties. II 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 II especially valuable.
The red cedar Of the south Atlantic
states is the most desirable CONNER
cially OF all the varieties. The stock
In becoming so depleted tnat factories
where Il is being work ID 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 900 red
cedar trees, involving more than 5O0.-
900 cubic feet OF that wond, are used
every year in this country for lead pen
ellis. The firm also said that $4,000
cubic feet of IL were exported annually.
/ Falkville, Ala. has been a leading
shipping place for cedar telegraph
poles. The Western Union Telegraph
company has used il as n base OF sup
plies for the southern states for nearly
! Is years. II has sent from there on an
average Of i75.000 poles OF red cedar
every year.
In 1890 this company sent out i,500
carloads OF 65 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 10
get II ready for shipment.
In every state In the south ther,
comes n story Of curtailment Of the
cedar product and the remo,a! OF mills
engaged In using IL In manufacture
The price Is going up also.
Formerly II could be found anywher,
In Florida. Now IL Is found in abund
ancc only on the western coast. IL
great tracts of Tennessee the virgin
growth Of the cedar has disappeared
with that Of black walnut. In Texas i
T. extinct practically In the Brazos ant
Colorado river valleys.
There Is hardly another tree tha
shows greater indifference to sol
and climate than the red cedar.
grows best In the northern state
where there Is marked deposit of lin
In the soil.
II Is scattered irrsgnlarly throng
the Maritime pine belt, which crosse
Alabama with widtn of about
miles. II germinates slowly, but
grows quite rapidly after being started
1,le tree keeps ON growing for full
$50 years aud often reaches n heigh
of 70 feet. The trunks sometimes ar
7 90 inches in diameter.
. The forestry division finds that III
! red cedar reproduccs itself freely esp'
d ria!ly because OF It's power to endur
shade. II recommends protection frol
fire and live stock and a slight modific;
Iion of numbering methods. On ba