CORNER OF STOKAi.l ■! AKii 1.AMI;1ISH LUMBER COMPANY 



steaming and passing through the dry kiln, in from four to six days 

 from the saw at an average weight of less tlian three pounds to the 

 foot, while the oak and other woods are reduced to less than normal 

 air dry weight, and are being shipped in from thirty to forty days 

 from the saw without the employment of the dry kiln. 



There are very many other interesting features about the Lamb- 

 Fish Lumber Company's plant which were carefully examined by 

 the visitors. 



An elaborate luncheon was served the visitors at the clubhouse at 

 noontime, and the afternoon was spent in general contribution to 

 the ' ' gayety of nations ' ' in which encounters between amateur 

 colored pugilists from a Memphis athletic club were an important 

 element. 



An improvised tennis game among the visitors was another fea- 



ture of the afternoon, and thera were card games and foolish stunts 

 of many sorts which took up the entire afternoon until dinner time. 

 The dinner evolved itself into a banquet, at which W. G. Wilmot 

 of Chicago acted as toastmaster. It was a very enjoyable function, 

 both in gastronomic and intellectual delights. 



At midnight the party again boarded a special train and was 

 safely delivered at Memphis early Saturday morning. The trip 

 was certainly a piece of enterprise on the part of Messrs. Lamb and 

 Burke, which will not soon be forgotten by the participants. 



A set of resolutions of congratulations and thanks was formulated 

 by the party and presented to the hosts as a slight evidence of the 

 appreciation of the visitors. 



The pictures accompanying this article will tell some of the details 

 of the function better than the text. 



Wi^'<^5Ki<>l'>iWV/CTS; 



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Spanish Cedar for Cigar Boxes 



The bulk of Spanish cedar {Cedrela odorata) used in the United 

 States for cigar boxes and clothes chests is imported from Mexico and 

 the West Indies. Porto Eico at one time produced this wood in large 

 quantities, and there is no reason why it should not be planted and 

 grown there on a commercial scale by private owners and by the 

 government. If there is one tree that can be grown successfully and 

 profitably it is the Spanish cedar, for no other valuable tree in the 

 American tropics makes such a rapid growth as this one. It is 

 believed that a large part of the supply of this timber could thus be 

 produced at home, and if grown in the forests regulated according 

 to the best methods, a very satisfactory crop of cedar logs could be 

 grown in a surprisingly short time. 



There is a very good demand for Spanish cedar and there will be 

 thirty or forty years from now. Companies are now being organized 

 to plant eucalyptus and Australian pine (Casuarina) in the West 

 Indies, and while these trees grow faster and produce logs in a much 

 shorter time, the woods have no established market value and no long 

 list of special uses. With Spanish cedar there is a marked tendency 

 for natural regeneration throughout its range of growth. This is the 

 case especially on cut-over or cleared land, but being light-demanding 

 during early life the young growth is frequently crowded out by the 

 less important vegetation. This accounts for its manner of occur- 

 rence, which is just an occasional tree scattered among other kinds 

 in the dense tropical forest. With the continued and exclusive 

 cutting of Spanish cedar, other species gradually supplant it and 

 the forest ceases to produce it. 



The possibility of its extensive production from planting has been 

 demonstrated in parts of the West Indies, where this tree has been 

 planted extensively for shade and ornament. The examples in a 

 number of gardens show a remarkable growth for their age. Indi- 



viduals only about sixteen years old have acquired a height of from 

 fifty to sixty feet and a diameter of between fifteen and twenty 

 inches at breast height. This would seem to indicate that this tree 

 would prove invaluable for reforestation on the denuded hillsides 

 in Porto Kico and other West Indian islands where the timber is 

 getting very scarce. Its rapid growth makes it eminently suitable 

 for this purpose. It produces great quantities of seed at a com- 

 paratively early age. Considering all these qualities, Spanish cedar 

 promises to be one of the most valuable trees in the West Indies. 



The largest use of Spanish cedar both in Europe and the United 

 States is for making cigar boxes, and many millions of feet are 

 used annually for this purpose alone. The wood having slightly fig- 

 ured grain is often very pretty and is worked up into furniture and 

 interior finish. The very best grades are frequently cut into veneers, 

 which are glued either on cheaper woods or on plain cedar. The most 

 handsomely figured wood is used for the same purposes for which 

 mahogany is so much employed. Okoume {Boswellia kleinn) from 

 Portuguese Africa is now used as a substitute for Spanish cedar in 

 the cigar box industry. Although much lighter in color and weight, 

 its grain frequently closely resembles the tropical American wooa 

 and is not easily detected by a mere superficial examination. 



L. L. D. 



Manager George S. Wood of the Forest Products Exposition 

 Company states that the affairs of the exposition are going along 

 very nicely. The work of lining up associations and individual con- 

 cerns for exhibits at the Chicago and New York shows is succeeding 

 as well as was expected and from the very cordial way in which the 

 idea is being accepted universally throughout the lumber, woodwork- 

 ing and machinery lines, it will bo a pronounced success. 



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