432 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



hummocks and on low ground is decidedly of better quality than 

 that of trees which grow on the upland. It has a more uniform 

 dark red color, is softer, and contains very little white rot, or "pole- 

 cat" wood, which occurs frequently in upland cedar. It is said by 

 the pencil companies that the cedar found near its western range in 

 Texas and Arkansas has a flinty texture, which gives it a poor grade 

 and often relegates its use to penholders. Another defect, known 

 as "bird's eye," often occurs in the cedars of both upland and hum- 

 mocks. This blemish is a small black speck running from heart 

 outward, and is really an old, dormant bud. Its effect on the qual- 

 ity of pencils depends on the size and frequency of the bird's eyes, 

 but as a rule it does not seriously deteriorate the value of the wood. 



While the heartwood of cedar is the material chiefly used for 

 pencils, sapwood is often used for penholders. The demand for 

 these, however, does not warrant the utilization of all the sapwood. 

 It is therefore the practice of most mills to let the logs lie in the 

 mill yard for several years, while the sapwood decays. This method 

 allows the heartwood to mellow and season into better quality. 



With the rigid demands of the pencil industry for clean heart- 

 wood, it is little wonder that the percentage of mill waste is un- 

 avoidably enormous. The waste varies with the quality and size of 

 the timber. With the present timber the waste in cubic feet aver- 

 ages nearly 70 per cent, while in weight it is nearly 90 per cent. 

 This refuse has little market other than for fuel, and most of it is 

 given away. 



Though the greater part of each year's output of red cedar is 

 used for pencils, this is not by any means its only use. The excep- 

 tional physical qualities of the wood have caused its utilization for 

 posts, poles, and ties, for which the poorer grades will serve, and for 

 buckets, cigar boxes, and veneering, which, like pencils, require 

 heartwood of the better grades. Yet the amount of cedar con- 

 sumed in the manufacture of buckets, cigar boxes, and the like is 

 comparatively small and is growing less as the supply of wood de- 

 creases. The pencil companies can afford to pay stumpage prices 

 that are prohibitive to the other industries, and they thus furnish 

 a ready market for all cedar of good quality. Pencil mills are scat- 

 tered in every State where the source of supply promises to hold out 

 longest with the least possible expense for transportation. 



Two species of red cedar are used: The southern form, Ju^ 

 niperus barbadensis, and the northern form, Jwiiperus virginiana. 

 The first is distinguished from the second by its more pendulous 

 ultimate branchlets and its slightly smaller fruit, which contains 

 on the average fewer seeds. These are practically the only points 

 of difference, and in commercial use the two species are classed 

 as one. 



The commercial range of red cedar extends from the Ohio River 

 on the north, as far east as eastern Tennessee and central Georgia, as 

 far south as Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida, and as far west 

 as eastern Texas and western Arkansas. The tree almost invariably 

 grows in mixture with hardwoods, and only in rare instances is it 



