Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-22
THE RED CEDAR.
Called One of the Finest Woods of
the New World.

Winthrop Packard, in the Boston Transcript.
The most virile of all the pasture per-
sonalities Is that of the red cedar. When
the keen autumn winds blow and toss
the plumes of these Indian chieftains
they wrap their olive-green blankets but
the closer about them and seem to stalk
the messy levels In dignity or gather i'll
erect, silent groups to discuss wcighty
affairs of the tribe Thus for the larger
ones. tall warriors that in their time have
travelled far, have met many warriors
and Learned wisdom from the meeting.
There is no solemnity about these, but
there is dignity and vivid personality
which il is hard to match in any other
tree 1t is hard to think OF these as
of the vegetable world | suspect them
of standing immobile only at their viii
and of being capable of trooping up hill
and over into some other pasture should
they see fit, as readily as the wood
chucks would. or any other four-foot
denizenS of the place
The greater trees of the pasture do not
seem to carry such personality. Many o.
them are like structures rather than PEG
pie. The pine that spires high is like Il
church. From it as the winds pass L
hear the sound of organ tones and the
singing of hymns in Il language that l.
older than man. music whose legend is
that of world before man was. Per-
haps the first pines caught the music OF
hymns together and have made it a
part of the ritual of their worship eve
since. No notation that man has de-
vised can express this music. nor can any
instrument which man has vet made re-
produce ii. Its hymnal is mesozoic. On
the soft brown carpet OF nave anC
transept of this cathedral tree ones foot
falls in hushed silence and he who passes
without his head bowed in reverence foi
the solemnity of the place goes with
soul du,led TO the higher spiritual influ-
ences Of the woods.
On the other hand. the white oaks al
ways seem dwelling houses for the pas
tlire folk. Beneath their wide-spreadins
horizontal branches see the little folks
of tine neghborhood at play. Tiny pines
sprout there, playing sedateiy as II al
ready touched with the thought of their
coming solennity. Little brown cedars.
just few inches high. sambol on the
green turf. and the barberry bushes that
are still too young to wear the gold
pendants that will come to them in flu
ture springs and the Iubics Of coming
autumns. open their leaves there like the
wide starry eyes of wondering baby girls
The kindergarten of the pasture is taught
under the big white oaks and all the
babies of the pasture folk attend.
The cedars make up mitch of the pic
turesque beauty of tine pastures and it is
plea SAINT TO know that these beautiful
trees whose personality is marked
they group in the golden sunshine. their
bronze garments beaded with the blue
of their fruit. are of excellent family,
they and their relatives greatly es-
teemed for their value and beauty the
world over. The first explorers of the
country spoke enthusiastically of our
red cedar as one of the finest woods of
the new world, praising its quality and
especially its durability. Indeed, the
heart wood of red cedar seems to hold
an oil which makes it proof against YER
min and fungi. Every housewife knows
the value of red cedar chips or red
cedar chests in keeping garments sSfe
from moths. Every old-timc farmer
knows the value of red cedar fence
posts. The heart wood seems practical
~ indestructible by rot. Posts set in the
ground for 100 years. in which the sap
wood has entirely disappeared beneath
the surface, still retain the red heart
wood intact. dare say good for another
hundred. or maybe many more.