8 BULLETIN 604, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SHAKES AND SHINGLES. 



Incense cedar shakes were used in considerable quantities in the 

 early days by settlers and prospectors, but have been displaced by 

 sugar pine, and to-day the use of cedar for this purpose is limited to 

 an occasional tree cut by some miner or " sky " rancher. 



The use of incense cedar for shingles is of considerable importance 

 locally where the general market is not readily accessible. It makes 

 an excellent shingle, but the small amount of sound timber available 

 has prevented its being exploited as a shingle material. Throughout 

 its range the small sawmills supplying the local market frequently 

 cut shingles in limited quantities for home consumption. For this 

 purpose cedar is usually sold in bolts by the cord, the stumpage 

 price being about $1 per cord or $2 per thousand feet board measure. 

 In the local market incense cedar shingles bring from $2.50 to $5 

 per thousand according to quality, averaging from $3.50 to $3.75. 

 In one instance reported the prices quoted, per 1,000, were as follows: 



No. 1 clear heart cedar $5. 00 



No. 2 heart and sap 3. 75 



No. 3 sound knots 2. 50 



MISCELLANEOUS USES. 



Among the various uses of incense cedar not mentioned above, its 

 use as fuel is probably the most important, although the quantity 

 consumed in this way is insignificant when compared with the total 

 amount of fuel wood used annually. It burns readily, gives off con- 

 siderable heat and but little smoke, and is frequently used where it 

 is plentiful, being generally considered more desirable than pine. 

 Its fuel value, according to Sargent, is 54 per cent that of white oak. 

 In a number of logging operations it is used exclusively for cooking 

 and heating around the camps. In 1911 and 1912 more than 1,800 

 cords of this species were cut in the vicinity of the Shasta Na- 

 tional Forest and disposed of locally for $4 and $4.50 a corcl. Ordi- 

 narily, however, little is sold; it is cut and used mostly by local 

 inhabitants. 



In the raisin country at the upper end of the San Joaquin Valley 

 incense cedar is used extensively for grape stakes. These are split 

 out in much the same manner as posts and are hauled down from 

 the mountains in small quantities and disposed of to the vineyardists 

 in the valley, who utilize thousands of such stakes annually. It is 

 in this region, too, that incense cedar is used for raisin trays, its light- 

 ness, durability, and freedom from warping and checking making it 

 particularly desirable. 



Experiments have been conducted by the Forest Service at its 

 Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis., to determine the possi- 



