112 



FOREST COMMJSSIONKR S REPORT. 



Norzvay Pine. 



TABLE 23. 



While the Norway pine is a common tree in Maine, it is not 



abundant, and grows singly or in small 



groves. 



Although 



adapted to many soils it grows best on soils suitable for white 

 pine. It is extremely hardy, and is a vigorous and rapid grow- 

 er. The best quality of timber is produced in well drained 

 sands. The wood is somewhat heavier, harder, and stronger 

 than the wood of white pine and is used chiefly for boxes and 

 construction work. Both in the northeastern and Lake States, 

 Norway pine is handled and sold together with the lower grades 

 of white pine. In Maine Norway pine went into box factories 

 and planing mills with white pine. 



Western Red Cedar. 



The western red cedar is also known as giant arborvitae, as 

 distinguished from the eastern arborvitae. The latter grows 

 only about 50 feet high with a diameter of 18 inches, while 

 western red cedar attains a height of 150 feet and a diameter of 

 9 feet. The wood of this western species is light, soft, brittle, 

 not strong, but very durable in contact with the soil. It is used 

 largely in the Northwest for the manufacture of shingles, and 

 some lumber is cut from it. It is said that the Indians of the 

 Northwest employed it exclusively for making canoes, and it 

 is for this purpose that quantities are used in Maine each year. 

 In the manufacture of canvas-covered canoes it has been found 

 that the native cedar furnishes the best material for ribs, and 

 that when it can be had in clear stock of sufficient width it 

 makes very satisfactory planking. However, the eastern tree 

 is so small and so knotty that canoe builders had to look else- 

 where for material, and this they found in the western red 



