H A R D W O O D RECORD 



21 



the range. It is apparent, however, that when a period covering 

 two or three centuries is required to produce a sawlog of only mod- 

 erate size, timber owners will not look forward with much earger- 

 ness to second growth forests of western larch. 



The value of this wood has been the subject of much controversy. 

 In the tables compiled for the Federal census of 1880, under direc- 

 tion of Charles 0. S. Sargent, its strength and elasticity were shown 

 to be remarkably high. The figures indicate that it is about forty 

 per cent stronger than white oak and fifty per cent stiffer. This 

 places it a little above longleaf pine in strength and nearly equal 

 to it in stiffness oj elasticity. Engineers have expressed doubts 

 as to the correctness of Sargent's figures; they believe them too 

 high. The samples tested by Sargent were six in number, four of 

 them collected in Washington and two in Montana. 



The wood of western larch is heavier than longleaf pine, and ap- 

 proximately of the same weight as white oak. It is among the 

 heaviest, if not actually the heaviest, softwoods of the United 

 States. Sargent thus describes the physical properties of the wood: 

 ' ' Heavy, exceedingly hard and strong, rather coarse-grained, com- 

 pact, satiny, susceptible of a fine polish, very durable in contact 

 with the soil, bands of small summer cells broad, occupying fully 

 half the width of the annual growth, very resinous, dark-colored, 

 conspicuous resin passages few, obscure; medullary rays few, thin; 

 color, light bright red, the thin sapwood nearly white." The wood 

 is described by Sudworth: "Clear, reddish brown, heavy, and fine- 

 grained; commercially valuable; very durable in an unprotected 

 state, differing greatly in this respect from the wood of the eastern 

 larch." 



The seasoning of western larch has given lumbermen much 

 trouble. It checks badly and splinters rise from the surface of 

 boards. It is generally admitted that this is the most serious 

 obstacle in the way of securing wide utilization for the wood. The 

 structure of the annual ring is reason for believing that there is 

 slight adhesion between the springwood and that of the late sea- 

 son. Checks are very numerous, parallel with the growth rings, 

 and splinters part from the board along the same lines. Standing 

 timber is frequently wind-shaken, and the cracks follow the rings. 



All of this is presumptuous evidence that the principal defect of 

 larch is a lack of adhesion between the early and the late wood. 

 If that is true, it is a fundamental defect in the growing tree, and 

 is inherent in the wood. No artificial treatment can wholly remove 

 it. It should not be considered impossible, however, to devise 

 methods of seasoning which would not accentuate the weaknesses 

 natural to the wood. 



The form of the larch "s trunk is perfect, from the lumberman 's 

 viewpoint, and its size is all that could be desired. It is amply 

 able to perpetuate its species, though it consumes a great deal of 

 time in the process. Abundant crops of seeds are borne, but only 

 once in several years. It rarely bears seeds as early as its twenty- 

 fifth year, and generally not until it passes forty; but its fruitful 

 period is long, extending over several centuries. The seeds retain 

 their vitality moderately well, which is an important consideration 

 in view of the tree's habit of opening and closing its cones 

 alternately as the weather happens to be damp or dry. The dis- 

 persion of seeds extends over a considerable part of the season, and 

 the changing winds scatter them in all directions. Many seeds fall 

 on the snow in winter to be let down on the damp ground ready to 

 germinate' during the early spring. The best germination occurs 

 on mineral soil, and this is often found in areas recently bared by 

 fire. Lodgepole pine contends also for this ground but the race 

 between the two species is not swift after the process of scattering 

 seeds has been completed; for both are of growth so exceedingly 

 slow that a hundred years will scarcely tell which is gaining. In 

 the long run, however, the larch outstrips the pine and becomes a 

 larger tree. If both start at the same time, and there is not room 

 for both, the pine will kill the larch by shading it. The latter 's 

 thin foliage renders it incapable of casting a shadow dense enough 

 to hurt the pine. The best areas for larch are those so thoroughly 

 burned as to preclude the immediate heavy reproduction of lodge- 

 pole pine. 



Many of the natural ranges of larch and lodgepole pine lie in the 

 national forests owned by the government, and careful studies have 

 been made in recent years to determine the requirements, and the 

 actual and comparative values of the two species. It has been 

 shown that larch is one of the most intolerant of the western forest 

 trees. It cannot endure shade. Its own thin foliage, where it oc- 

 curs in pure stands, is sufficient to shade off the lower limbs of 

 boles and produce tall, clean trunks; but if a larch happens to stand 

 in the open, where light is abundant, it retains its branches almost 

 to the ground. It is more intolerant, even, than western yellow 

 pine, which so often grows in open, park-like stands, and that habit 

 has had nmch to do with the form and value of larch timber. 



Confusion of Common Names Sometimes 

 Serious 



The following paragraph is copied from a report prepared by an 

 American college professor, who is now in Brazil making a study 

 of the timber resources of that country: 



"Cedro clara {Cedrelu trasiliensis') Meliaceae. Like the cedars 

 of the United States, this wood is light, not too strong perhaps, but 

 adapted to all the uses common to our cedar, like the making of 

 lead pencils. It is used here, very extensively, for posts, because 

 of its resistance to weather. It is very common all over Brazil 

 and will soon form an important article of commerce. The trees 

 are sometimes immense, but the wood appears sound and as valua- 

 ble as that from smaller specimens. As to lead pencils, it is to be 

 noted that there is an extensive though at present unworked mine 

 of plumbago in the state of Ceara close to an extensive forest of 

 this wood, and that, too, with plenty of undeveloped water power 

 at hand. Who will make the combination and at the same time a 

 fortune?' ' 



It would be difficult to find more errors combined in a single 

 paragraph than appear in this one, which was intended to inform 

 lead pencil manufacturers of the nature of a wood designed to take 

 the place of our gradually diminishing pencil cedar. It is quite 

 evident that the author of this report on Brazilian woods did not 

 examine very closely the wood of this "cedro elara" or he would 

 have observed that it does not at all resemble the pencil cedars 

 indigenous to the United States. Such mistakes and confusions 

 are the direct result of popular plant naming, and it may be worth 

 while to give here the reason why the name "cedar" has come to 

 be applied to these unrelated tropical hardwoods (Cedrelas). The 

 Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata) has a characteristic odor resem- 

 bling the cedars (Juniperus, Thuja, Libocedrus, etc.) of the United 

 States, and for this reason it was called cedar or "cedro" by the 

 early Spanish settlers in the American tropics. In order to dis- 

 tinguish it, however, from the true cedars it is generally referred 

 to as Spanish or cigar-box cedar, or "cedro clara" in the case of 

 the Brazilian species. There are more than a dozen species of the 

 genus Cedrela and all closely resemble the Spanish cedar and are 

 generally called ' ' cedro. ' ' 



The Brazilian species, which is an important tree and has an 

 extensive distribution, yields a wood that is used for every pur- 

 pose for which the Spanish cedar is employed, but so far as Ameri- 

 can and European pencil manufacturers are concerned, it has never 

 been available for use as a lead pencil wood. Here is, therefore, 

 a ease in which the author of the report has failed to realize that 

 though of the same name these woods possess entirely different 

 characters from those of our native cedars, aU of which are soft 

 woods, that is to say, woods of the cone-bearing trees. This con- 

 fusion of knowledge of common names of trees and the lack of 

 understanding the structural relations of the different woods led to 

 very misleading statements. The proposition as outlined by the 

 college professor is a very tempting one for those who dare to 

 venture on a project with as little definite knowledge as contained 

 in the above extract. While the combination of extensive supply 

 of plumbago, timber and water is easily made, the fortune is prob- 

 ably not so readily attained. L. L. D. 



