122 Discussion of Industries 
Spanish cedar is glued on the cheap domestic woods, such as 
yellow poplar; but the great body of cigar-box material is in 
the form of two-ply veneer with Spanish cedar as principal 
wood for this use. Except for cheaper boxes, Spanish cedar 
is used almost exclusively. It is bought by superficial measure, 
usually between 1/8 and 3/16 of an inch in thickness. For 
purposes of showing comparison of quantities, the veneer has 
been reduced to board measure, which accounts for the high 
price of $175 per thousand feet. Spanish cedar is best for 
cigar boxes not only because of its beautiful grain and fine 
texture, but because of its aromatic odor. The gum, yellow 
poplar, and other imitations are stained to give the proper 
color, while the odor is artificially applied by treating the 
veneered lumber with a decoction of cedar shavings and saw- 
dust. Cotton gum is sometimes made to imitate the Spanish 
cedar by passing the thin lumber between rollers having 
minute teeth by which the wood is indented so that it has the 
appearance and characteristics of cedar. 
The industry has comparatively little waste because most 
of the lumber can be used by thin slicing of the board or log, 
and by using the cedar shavings and sawdust in covering other 
woods. Most of the Spanish cedar is imported from Mexico, 
Central America, and the West Indies. This is the only 
extensive industry in the State that draws on the outside world 
for every foot of its raw material. Next to airplanes this 
industry paid the highest price for its raw material, the aver- 
age being $164.66 per thousand feet, while airplane material 
costs $230.34 per thousand. The high price of the material 
going into the industry is realized when we compare its cost 
with the average of 60.78 for all industries in New York State. 
The saw mills supplying cigar-box lumber generally take the 
round logs in the rough and manufacture dimension stock 
sawed to thickness and width but random length, and shipped 
in the rough, wet or air-dried, and planed as the consumer of 
the material desires. The dimension stock is frequently cut 
into multiples of the sizes desired for specified cigar boxes. 
Every inch of lumber that is available from the log for cigar 
