DISEASES OF TAXODIUM AXD LIBOCEDRUS. 



It is this property of the pecky cypress not to pass be- 

 yond a certain stage of decay, which has made it possible for 

 the wood to be utilized in a variety of ways. Dickeson & 

 Brown call attention to this fact : ' ' There is this peculiarity 

 of this disease, that the cutting down of the timber arrests its 

 further progress, and timber thus affected, although not as 

 strong, is found to last as long as that which is very sound." 

 This is probably a unique case of specifically " rotten " 

 wood still capable of being used for commercial purposes. 

 The durability of cypress timber is universally admitted, 

 and pecky cypress does not seem to be much less so. 

 Where it is, as in this case, a question of dollars and cents, 

 the testimony of practical lumbermen is especially valuable. 

 Thus, whereas sound cypress lumber sells for $20-$ 2 5 per 

 1,000 ft. B.M., pecky cypress sells for $5-$10 per 1,000 

 ft. B.M. ; generally from $5-$ 8. One firm makes two 

 grades of pecky planks: "pecky," and "dangerously 

 pecky; " " the latter means that the holes are so large 

 that a mule might put his foot through " ! Mr. G. M. 

 Bowie, of Whitecastle, La., writes: " I am watching some 

 pecky planks laid on the ground, exposed to rain and sun; 

 they are unchanged so far in ten years." Throughout the 

 Southern States pecky cypress boards are used for bridge 

 planking on plantations, for siding, sidewalks, flooring, 

 culverts, foundations under brick work, in wet places, etc. 

 Mr. A. S. Mohr, of Apalachicola, Fla., says: " We use 

 pecky planks 2 in. thick and upwards for making drive- 

 ways, wharfs, tramways, and for such purposes it is in- 

 valuable." 



In Mobile, for instance, where there are open ditches along 

 many streets, the vertical bank, flanking the pavement, 

 and the bottom of the ditch are lined with pecky boards, 

 and their lasting powers seem to be fully equal to sound 

 boards. (PI. 6.) 



For sidewalks, such lumber is used in almost every town 

 or city within the reach of cypress swamps, arid when the 



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