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poses. As a building wood for frames and timbers, it is useful and 

 durable, and cedar boards are all that can be desired for house build- 

 ing, and cabinet work. Cedar presses for clothes, cedar cabinets, 

 cedar tables, are among the very best in use, and for wardrobes it is 

 considered to be in advance of all other woods from the character 

 it has of not habouring moths or other insects. The wood is also 

 largely used for the manufacture of the well known cigar boxes, and 

 Avhere the tree is common, small flat pieces sawn or split, called 

 " shingles " are used for the covering of buildings, and a roof made 

 of well seasoned cedar, is one which is known to outlast everything 

 of its kind. 



In central America where trees of the largest dimensions can be 

 obtained, it is used for making boats, sometimes " dug out " and 

 sometimes " built," which are light and very lasting, but they should 

 always be kept out of the water when not in use, as the wood is 

 slightly absorbent and the boats become heavy if left in the water, 

 and this applies more especially where they are not kept well painted. 



The tree when in flower gives out a very peculiar odour, which is 

 overpowering to some and is sometimes called foetid. The wood also 

 when fresh cut, has a harsh and rather unpleasant smell, but with 

 age this disappears, and well ripened wood gives off an odour very 

 much liked, and many use wardrobes and presses of cedar by 

 preference for wearing apparel, simply to give them by contact the 

 sweet and peculiar smell of the wood. 



Sometimes the trees reach the enormous height of 90 to 100 feet 

 or more, and I have seen trees with a diameter of twelve feet at the 

 bole, but this of course is unusually large. In Trinidad and Jamaica 

 the growth of the tree is very steady and regular, and with us in 

 Trinidad probably faster than in Jamaica, as our climate seems rather 

 better suited to its growth. 



On the average the planter may calculate on a diameter of 

 one inch per annum. If planted in good soil, a tree twenty 

 years old would probably have a stem or trunk tAventy to twenty-five 

 inches in diameter. Of course a contrast to this will sometimes 

 appear, for if planted at great distances, in poor soil, and if left un- 

 protected, a slow growth and stunted character is all that can be 

 expected and certainly is all that any planter who gives them such 

 treatment deserves. 



Altogether the planting of West Indian Cedar through the West 

 Indian Islands, a few of the most wind blown perhaps excepted, is au 



