668 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Our sassafras has a pleasant odor which is much more 

 pronounced in the twigs, leaves and inner bark than in 

 the wood. The spice bush or benzoin is of the same 

 class. The California laurel or pepperwood has a sweet 

 peppery fragrance. The embuya of Brazil and various 

 other laurels or 

 lauros of South 

 America are 

 more or less 

 highly scented 

 and find many 

 uses on that 

 account. The 

 Brazilian sas- 

 safras has a 

 heartwood that 

 is often fairly 

 saturated with 

 an oil with an 

 almost over- 

 powering odor 

 of sassafras. 

 The kalingag 

 of the Philip- 

 pines is full 

 brother of the 

 camphor t re e 

 but the odor of 

 the wood, which is strong and lasting, is almost exactly 

 like sassafras. 



The Borneo camphorwood or kapor has a pronounced 

 camphor odor when fresh. It belongs to the dipterocarp 

 family, nearly all of the trees of which are resinous. 



ROWS OF CALIFORNIA PEPPER TREES BORDERING A COUNTRY ROAD ON THE HILLS 



OUTSIDE OF LOS ANGELES 



True camphor is obtained from trees growing in Formosa 

 and adjacent regions. Some is collected as exudations of 

 gum but mostly it is obtained by cutting the wood into 

 chips and distilling it. There is great demand for this 

 wood for the manufacture of chests, drawers and insect- 



proof cases, 

 and cabinet 

 makers find it 

 difficult to get 

 enough cf the 

 genuine wood 

 for their work. 

 Accord ingly 

 they make imi- 

 tations, using 

 some light 

 cheap wood af- 

 ter first treat- 

 ing it with 

 camphor o i 1. 

 These imita- 

 tion camphor- 

 wood chests 

 are not durable 

 and the effect 

 of the oil is 

 soon lost. Cam- 

 phor can be 

 produced artificially from the resin of pine trees. 



There are many flower-scented woods. The rosewoods 

 are the most common and there are several kinds on the 

 market. The Brazilian rosewood is known locally as 

 jacaranda, with various qualifying terms to indicate the 



A DELIGHTFUL SPOT IN THE MUIR WOODS, SHOWING CALIFORNIA LAUREL BENDING OVER A LITTLE STREAM RUNNING 

 THROUGH THE FOREST. THE WOOD OF THIS TREE HAS A SWEET PEPPER FRAGRANCE 



