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AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



It docs best at elevations of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet in bottoms of can- 

 yons and ravines. The grayish green color of the foliage is due to the 

 conspicuous white glands which dot the center of each leaf. The berries 

 are small and blue, of sweetish taste which does not particularly appeal 

 to the palate of civilized man, but the Indians of the region, whose 

 normal state is one of semi-starvation, eat them with relish. The line 

 separating heartwood from sap in alligator juniper is frequently irregular 

 and vague, and like some of its kindred junipers of the West, patches of 

 sap are sometimes buried deep in the heartwood, while streaks of heart- 

 wood occur in the sap. This heartwood is usually of a dirty color, sug- 

 gesting red rocks and soil of the desert where it grows. Small articles 

 which can be made of wood selected for its color are attractive. They 

 may be highly polished, and the surface takes a satiny finish; but the 

 wood does not show very well in panel or body work where wide pieces 

 are used. The best utilization of alligator juniper appears to lie in small 

 articles. It is fine for the lathe, and goblets, napkin rings, match safes, 

 and handkerchief boxes are manufactured from the wood in Texas. Its 

 rough uses are as fence posts and telephone poles. It is durable in 

 contact with the soil. 



CALIFORNIA JUNIPER (Juniperiis calif arnica) is called white cedar, 

 juniper, sweet-fruited juniper, and sweet-berried cedar. Its range is in 

 California south of Sacramento, among the ranges of the coast moun- 

 tains, and the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. Its height runs from 

 twenty to forty feet, diameter one to two. The leaves fall in the second 

 or third year. This tree is of poor form and size for lumber. Trunks 

 frequently divide into branches near the ground. The wood resembles 

 that of other western junipers, and usually the fine color which distin- 

 guishes the red cedar of the East is wanting, and in its stead is a dull 

 brown, tinged with red. The wood is soft and durable, and is strongly 

 odorous. The sapwood is thin and is nearly white. Fuel and fence 

 posts are the most important uses of the California juniper. Indians eat 

 the berries raw or dry them and pound them to flour. 



