THE RED CEDAR OR SAVIN 



THE Red Cedar is one of the most abundant and characteristic evergreen trees of 

 eastern North America. As the species is now limited by the authorities it is 

 distributed from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, south to Georgia, Alabama and 

 Texas, and west to Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota. The tree has a characteristic columnar 

 appearance, which is shown in the specimen illustrated on the plate, and when growing 

 singly or in small groups along hillsides it forms one of the most distinctive and charac- 

 teristic features of many landscapes, the natural plantings often giving to abandoned 

 pastures a park-like effect which is exceedingly attractive. In some of the Southern States 

 low hills are often covered with these trees almost to the exclusion of other species. Upon 

 rare occasions trees have been found one hundred feet high but much more commonly they 

 attain less than half this height, and the great majority of those which one sees are still 

 smaller. 



The wood of this tree has been an important commercial product. It is especially 

 noted for its ability to resist the effects of moisture, which has led to its being largely used 

 for fence-posts and the sills of buildings. It is also notable for its fragrance, which has been 

 supposed to help in preventing the attacks of moths upon furs and woollen garments, and 

 in consequence the wood is much used for closets and chests for preserving apparel. Cedar 

 wood is also utilized for making lead pencils and various kinds of woodenware, as well as 

 for the interior finish of houses and in ship building. 



The branches of the Red Cedar are remarkable for the two forms of leaves which 

 they bear. The most abundant kind of leaves are those which are small and scale-like, 

 each leaf being acutely pointed and sub-triangular in shape c The other form is long and 

 more or less needle-like, and it seems to be most often present upon branches which have 

 grown rapidly. These two forms may be seen in the branches figured upon the plate. The 

 berry-like fruits of the Red Cedar are known to every country dweller, being small bluish 

 objects about the size of a pea, in which the thickened outer scales have grown together 

 to enclose the three or four seeds. These cedar-berries are freely eaten by a great variety 

 of birds, and the seeds are doubtless most commonly distributed through this agency. 

 In addition to the fruits proper one may often find upon the branches the curious cedar- 

 apples, a specimen of which is illustrated near the upper right-hand corner of the plate. 

 These are due to the attacks of a parasitic fungus. The Red Cedar is often also called the 

 Savin. 



The approaching exhaustion of the supply of Cedar wood for lead pencils and 

 other purposes has led to the recommendation that the species be more generally planted 

 for forestry purposes. The fact, however that it grows very slowly, requiring seventy 

 years to reach a good merchantable size renders such advice of little value to the average 

 forest planter. Nursery grown trees are readily obtained for ornamental planting. 



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