4 BULLETIN 1051. TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ance is due to the striations of red heartwood and white sapwood 

 interspersed with the deeper-colored circular or oval knots. By 

 means of the firm construction, the extremely tight-fitting cover, and 

 the heavily- varnished exterior, the odor of the wood is retained 

 within the chest. In this connection it may be of interest to state 

 that during a recent pilgrimage to " The Hermitage," the planta- 

 tion of Andrew Jackson, located near Nashville, Tenn., in the heart 

 of the red cedar belt, there was seen a hand-made cedar chest which 

 was considerably over a hundred years old. It is reported that this 

 chest still retains the full fragrance or aroma of the cedar, and doubt- 

 less from the standpoint of odor still possesses its original efficiency. 



AROMA OF RED CEDAR. 



The persistent, characteristic odor of red cedar, which has been 

 credited with possessing the property of destroying the clothes moth, 

 or at least preventing damage by it, is due to a volatile oil which 

 forms 1 to 2 per cent of the wood. The pure heartwood, or the red 

 wood, contains from 2 to 4 per cent of this volatile oil, which is 

 pale yellowish-brown in color and possesses an agreeable, persistent 

 odor. The principal constituents of the oil are the alcohol cedrol, 

 or cedrol camphor, which can be separated from the oil in the form 

 of crystals ; the sesquiterpene alcohol cedrenol ; and the sesquiterpene 

 cedrene. The characteristic odor is probably due, to the former two 

 compounds. It is stated that the oil possesses antiseptic properties, 

 but little is known regarding its insecticidal properties. 



CEDAR CHEST EXPERIMENTS. 



The only experimental work previously recorded was by Scott, 

 Abbott, and Dudley, reported (17) upon in 1918. These authors, 

 working with the southern, or webbing, clothes moth (Tineola biselli- 

 ella) and one cedar chest, the history of which was not known, con- 

 cluded that a red cedar chest killed adults and newly hatched larvae, 

 but had no effect on larvae half grown or larger. With these con- 

 clusions the writers, working also with Tineola biselliella, agree in 

 the main, although none of the chests used by them in their work 

 either killed adult moths or prevented them from laying eggs. 



In the experimental work recorded below, nine red cedar chests, 

 with a capacity of from 3.9 to 5.5 cubic feet, were obtained newly 

 made in 1920 from representative manufacturers. These chests (PL 

 I) were from regular stock and were shipped direct from the factory. 

 They were of |-inch lumber, had the usual attractive finish, and 

 were of the average run of chests placed upon the retail market. 



EFFECT UPON ADULT MOTHS. 



Scott, Abbott, and Dudley state (17) that 70 adult moths were 

 introduced into a cedar chest and that an examination two months 

 after the last adults were introduced showed that " all had been 

 killed and that no eggs or larvae were present." This conclusion re- 

 garding the effect of a cedar chest upon adult life is not justified 

 since in longevity experiments on file adult clothes moths have never 

 lived two months and seldom so long as 30 days. The same authors 

 state also that 30 adults and a supply of flannel were added to the 

 same chest two years later. Observations made nine weeks after the 



