TREES OF AMERICA. 247 



good charcoal for gunpowder, and very ex- 

 cellent lampblack. 



" There are two other kinds of cedar that 

 grow in this country ; with one of these, the 

 red cedar, you are well acquainted, I dare 

 say, for it grows almost everywhere, from 

 Maine to Florida. Some call it juniper. 

 You may know it by its little blue berries." 



" Oh, then we do know it, Uncle Philip : 

 robins and other birds feed on the berries in 

 winter." 



" Yes ; and very glad they are to get them, 

 when the ground is covered with snow, and 

 all the other trees are quite bare. I suppose 

 I need hardly tell you that this kind of cedar 

 is very small ; but I suspect that you do not 

 know what is made of the berries." 



" Made, Uncle Philip ! I did not know that 

 any thing was made of cedar-berries." 



" It would be better if nothing was made 

 from them ; the article I mean is gin ; one 

 of those poisonous and destructive drinks that 

 take away men's reason, and make them 

 worse than the beasts. The wood is com- 

 pact, fine-grained, and very light ; it has a 

 pleasant odour, too, like the white cedar, and 

 is equally durable ; but it is too small to be 



