580 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



when cypress is given favorable conditions for develop- 

 ment, such as on cut -over lands or in the open, both 

 diameter and height growth arc found to be moderately 

 rapid and well maintained. The average diameter in- 

 crease in such cases varies from l'/i to 3 inches in 10 

 years. The average height growth up to about 100 years 

 of age is about 1 foot i>er year, the rate being consider- 

 ably more rapid during the first fifty years than after. 

 Few coniferous seedlings grow so vigorously from seed 

 during the 

 years of in- 

 fancy. Cy- 

 press seedlings 

 reach a height 

 of from 8 to 14 

 inches the first 

 year and 16 to 

 24 inches the 

 second year. 

 Cypress also 

 possesses the 

 ability to heal 

 wounds in the 

 bark at a rapid 

 rate. So strong 

 is this power 

 that tamps 2 

 feet in diame- 

 ter are occa- 

 sionally found 

 that have 

 healed over 

 and are still 

 alive several 

 years after the 

 tree has been 

 cut, although 

 without pro- 

 ducing sprouts. 

 About 1770, 

 John Bartram 

 planted a small 

 cypress sapling 

 which he is 

 said t o have 

 pulled in the 

 swamps of Florida and brought home in his saddle-bags. 

 The tree has been dead for many years, but its skeleton 

 still stands in Bartram's garden in Philadelphia. In the 

 century and a quarter of its growth the tree attained a 

 height of more than 150 feet and a diameter of 7 feet. 

 The vitality of the bald cypress is illustrated by a tree 

 which stands at the corner of 13th and Locust streets, 

 Philadelphia. This tree is about 60 feet high and more 

 than a foot in diameter, and is apparently in perfect 

 health, although long cx|>oscd to the smoke and dust of 

 the city. Kxcept an opening less than 30 inches square, 

 where the tree stands, every foot of soil the roots can 

 reach is covered by brick sidewalks and asphalt paving. 



The trunk is unprotected and shows numerous scars 

 where horses have gnawed it, but each time it has 

 rapidly healed its wounds. It is surprising that any 

 tree can maintain itself in thrifty condition under such 

 extremely adverse conditions. 



The attractiveness and vigor of bald cypress un- 

 doubtedly will cause it to be planted much more ex- 

 tensively for ornamental purposes than it has been up 

 to the present time. It is hardy as far north as Massa- 

 chusetts, New 

 York and 

 Michigan, and 

 has no insect 

 enemies. It 

 should be 

 planted in 

 deep, fine 

 sandy loam 

 where moist- 

 ure is plenti- 

 ful and drain- 

 age good, if it 

 i s desired t o 

 secure rapid 

 growth. It 

 does fairly 

 well in dry 

 situations o n 

 the heavier 

 soils and will 

 also grow 

 when planted 

 in swamps or 

 even in shallow 

 ponds ; in the 

 latter case the 

 roots send up 

 the curious 

 ''knees.'' 

 Bald cypress 

 should also 

 prove a val- 

 uable tree for 

 commercial 

 forest plant- 

 ing, especially 

 on sites where it is too wet for other species to thrive. 

 On a good class of hardwood soils, experience in Ohio 

 seems to indicate that the tree will grow with sufficient 

 rapidity to warrant its being used quite generally. Under 

 cultivation the trees grow from 18 to 24 feet in height 

 in the first 10 years. It is not difficult to raise the seed- 

 lings provided the seeds are soaked in water for about 

 a month prior to sowing. They should be sowed about 

 the middle of June and afterward the seed-bed should 

 be kept mulched and well watered. 



The wood of bald cypress ranks between white pine 

 and the hard yellow pines in weight, strength and stiff- 

 ness. The lumber shrinks and swells to a limited extent 



CYPRESS ON LAKE DRUMMOND IN THE DISMAL SWAMP 



Cypress inhabits ] 

 present loggin 

 The bulk of a 



into the deepest pans of swamps over soft and treacherous ground. Another method is called pull-boat logging. 

 The pull-boat has a stationary engine mounted on a float or barge and it skids the cypress over the soft surface for 

 distances up to looo feet or more. The dredge-boat, working just in advance of the pull-boat, digs canals to give 

 access to cypress where natural channels are lacking. Another method of logging is by the overhead skidder, in 

 which the logs are brought in by a carnage traveling over a powerful cable suspended between the "head tree" 

 and "tail tree." usually 600 feet apart. It is the general practice to girdle or "belt" cypress trees from 6 months 

 to a year in advance of logging. The result is that about os per cent of the logs will float instead of 10 to 20 

 per cent. 



