A LESSON FROM THE ELEPHANTS 



and possess the same mechanical properties. The colour 

 is not always such an important factor. 



The wood originally used in the manufacture of the 

 popular cedar pencil was Juniperus virginiana, an Amer- 

 ican species of juniper; this is the well-known pencil 

 cedar of commerce. Many substitutes outside the juni- 

 per family have been tried, but invariably manufac- 

 turers, for preference, fall back on the so-called pencil 

 cedar. Until recently the bulk of this has been provided 

 by America, but that source of supply is dwindling, and 

 today there is little indeed of the original juniper avail- 

 able. There is, however, an excellent substitute for this 

 in the East African pencil cedar, Juniperus procera, 

 locally known as Mutarakwa. This is to be found in 

 most of the Highland forests of East Africa and is 

 shipped from Mombasa. It is a handsome reddish brown 

 soft wood with a fine even grain, it saws, planes, and 

 works up well, is rather brittle, very fissile and, like the 

 original pencil cedar, it is aromatic. But above all, it 

 possesses that quality known to the pencil making trade 

 as "whittling," which is indispensable, both to the pencil 

 maker and pencil user. 



Juniperus procera is said by some to be somewhat 

 harder than Juniperus virginiana, but this quality varies 

 not so much according to species, but rather depends 

 upon the manner of growth, soil, situation, not to men- 

 tion seasoning and many other factors which cannot be 

 gone into here. Although the total area covered by this 

 species in East Africa is not even approximately known, 



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