96 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 
bustibility reduced, or stained in such a way that 
precious woods may be counterfeited. Instead of 
stains or paints, inferior woods may be covered with 
choice veneers. This is even practised in the manu- 
facture of cigar-boxes. A cheap grade of poplar is 
covered with a fine veneer of Cuban-cedar on the 
outside and with paper on the inside. In similar ways 
even wood of inferior quality may be used. It is 
probably true that the sweet-scented Cuban-cedar 
(Cedrela odorata) prevents the ravages of insects in 
cigars. 
It would be folly, of course, to plant oak for paper 
pulp, or poplar for ship timbers. 
If the purpose of the forest is protection against 
the destructive forces of Nature, or for esthetic or 
sanitary influences, the quality of the wood is a 
secondary matter; but whenever it is possible those 
species should be selected which will serve as many 
purposes as possible. 
After having decided upon the kind of forest 
and the species desired, the next step in the formation 
of a forest is soil reclamation, if that is necessary and 
possible. If the soil is extremely swampy or sandy 
it often pays, in fact, is often necessary, to improve 
the condition of the land before the kind of tree you 
may desire to plant will grow. | 
Swampy land may often be helped by merely 
