tured for the purpose of pipe making; but the 

 area in which the best briar root grows is very 

 limited. It takes considerable time and the re- 

 sult is that the supply of the most suitable wood 

 is far below the demand. The cultivation of the 

 briar root is a simple matter. It consists mere- 

 ly in pruning the growth as much as possible 

 so as to encourage and strengthen the roots. 



The very best qualities of briar root come 

 from Corsica and the neighborhood of Leg- 

 horn. It is very finely grained, hard and tough, 

 does not char and heats slowly. 



When full grown and ready for the market 

 the wood is rough sawn into blocks, varying in 

 size from 3 inches square up, according to the 

 market sizes required, and allowed to season. 

 When fully seasoned the blocks are packed in 

 boxes each containing from 200 to 300 of these 

 blocks. They are then sent to the dealers or 

 direct to the pipe factories as the case may be. 



In the factory the blocks are sorted and then 

 undergo a sweating process in steam vats for 

 ten to twelve hours. This steaming gives the 

 wood the familiar brown-yellow tint of the 

 natural briar root uncolored. After sweating 

 the blocks are sent to the drying room as all 

 traces of moisture must be removed. This 

 usually takes several months. For pipe making 

 the workman selects his block and roughly trims 



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