i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Western or Pacific Coast Cedar. 



Thuya pHcata. — Don. 



Thuya giyantca. — Nutt. 



The name red cedar is the one most often 

 applied to this great western tree, but inas- 

 much as this is not the true red cedar — the 

 fragrant, richly colored material from which 

 lead-pencils and great packing chests are 

 made — but a comparatively new factor in 

 lumber commerce, the term is some- 

 what misapplied and misleading. 



Eed cedar is the name applied to 

 the tree in Idaho, Oregon and Wash- 

 ington; in California gigantic red 

 cedar, Pacific red cedar and gigan- 

 tic cedar are used, also arborvita::; 

 in Idaho it is sometimes called 

 shinglewood; in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington cedar, canoe cedar, giant ce- 

 dar and other modifications of the 

 above terms are frequently em- 

 ployed; while in many lumber mar- 

 kets, both east and west, the terms 

 western and Pacific Coast cedar are 

 used, and are perhaps the best and 

 least confusing names that can be 

 applied to the wood. 



The range of growth of this tree 

 is from southern Alaska to northern 

 California, particularly in Mendo- 

 cino county; eastward through Brit- 

 ish Columbia and northern Washing- 

 ton, northern Idaho and Montana, 

 along the western slopes of the 

 Eocky mountains. In Idaho the 

 growth is most prolific along the 

 CoBur d'Alene, Bitter Boot and 

 Salmon river mountains. The trees 

 do not grow in a pure stand, but in- 

 termingled with western larch, fir 

 and tamarack, under most favorable 

 conditions showing perhaps twenty- 

 five per cent of cedar. The tree 

 reaches its maximum development in 

 western Washington and Oregon, 

 and its preferred habitat is low, 

 moist bottom-lands and the banks 

 of mountain lakes or streams. 



There are a number of varieties 

 of the species plicata, all entering 

 into consumption under one of the 

 names heretofore given; but the 

 genua Thuya, to which it belongs, 

 contains only two species native to 

 America — Thuya plicata and Thuya 

 occidental^, the arborvitse; their 

 growth is confined to northeastern 

 and northwestern America. Two other species 

 belonging to this genus are in existence, one 

 native to China, the other to Japan. They 

 are often planted in this country, especially 

 in the South, for the decoration of gardens, 

 and when properly cultivated thrive fairly 

 well. 



The Pacific Coast cedar is a pyramidal 

 tree, 150 to 200 feet high, 2 to 11 feet in 

 diameter, with stout trunk, often corrugated. 



SIXTV-SLVUNTH PAPUR. 



The illustration herewith presented furnishes 

 a good example of this peculiarity. The 

 bark is scaly, and irregularly divided by 

 shallow fissures into long, narrow, loose scales. 

 It is bright cinnamon-red and from one-half 

 to three-quarters of an inch thick. Large 

 trees arc often hollow at the bottom. 



The leaves of the tree are small, close and 

 blunt, longer on leading shoots. The flowers 



TVriCAL WESTERN CEDAR GROV^TII, WASHINGTON 



are dark brown and very tiny. The fruit is 

 a cone having six fertile scales, each bear- 

 ing two or three winged seeds. It ripens 

 early in autumn. 



The heartwood is reddish brown, the sap- 

 wood lighter. The wood is coarse-grained, of 

 compact structure, with conspicuous layers. 

 It is very light, soft and brittle, is easily 

 split and easily worked, extremely durable in 

 contact with the soil. A cubic foot of sea- 



soned wood weighs approximately twenty- 

 three pounds. 



Of this great giant of the Northwest Rog- 

 ers writes: "Solitary, or in small groves, it 

 climbs the mountains to a level more than a 

 mile higher than the rich river bottoms at 

 sea level, where the noblest specimens and 

 the greatest number are assembled. The In- 

 dian cuts the biggest specimen ho can find 

 for the totem pole that he carves 

 into his family tree. The war 

 canoes are dugouts made of the 

 enormous butts, which often meas- 

 ure 15 feet in diameter. Inside the 

 cabins the great rough-hewn rafters 

 and joists of these primitive dwell- 

 ings are of this arborvita;, whose 

 soft wood the crude implements of 

 the tribes can work with comparative 

 ease. The walls that inclose the In- 

 dian's house, the blankets that keep 

 him warm, and the ropes indispens- 

 f- S able in fishing, in the harnessing of 



4^ his dog teams and in various other 



^jT' enterprises — all come from the fi- 



JB brous inner bark of this tree. Truly 



it is a ' tree of life ' to the Alaskan 

 aborigines. ' ' 



The principal uses to which Pa- 

 cific Coast cedar is put are for 

 cooperage, doors, sash, interior fin- 

 ish, fencing, shingles and telegraph, 

 telephone, electric light and railway 

 poles. With the rapid depletion 

 of the white cedar of the northern 

 ilichigan forests — arborvita; — this 

 wood is becoming very popular for 

 the last named purposes. One great 

 advantage which western cedar poles 

 possess over the northern wood is 

 that they show very little taper and 

 are invariably much smaller at the 

 base, thus necessitating much less 

 work in setting and less mutilation 

 of the street or pavement. They are 

 very straight, smooth, and last re- 

 markably well while in the ground. 

 The wood has been used in the cen- 

 tral and eastern states only about 

 ten years, in quantities, but in this 

 length of time has amply demon- 

 strated that it can be depended upon 

 for high-grade construction work. 

 The western cedar poles are being 

 very extensively used by power com- 

 panies, and are preferred by many 

 of them to any other, for the reason 

 that they are far more sightly, and the com- 

 panies have now become convinced that they 

 will carry the loads in a satisfactory manner. 

 One may notice quantities of these poles along 

 the lines of the great trolley systems through- 

 out the states of Indiana, IlUnois, Ohio, Penn- 

 sylvania and New York, as well as in many 

 cities which are particular about the neat ap- 

 pearance of their streets. The first cedar 

 poles to become known in the eastern country 



