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THE PALMETTO 



The Palmetto tree is unique, interest- 

 ing and useful. It grows only in warm 

 latitudes. When young it resembles the 

 graceful potted palms of northern con- 

 servatories, but it grows on, taller and 

 taller, shedding its old, lower leaves as 

 it puts on the newer ones above, and 

 stops not to send out branch or limb, 

 but seems to have only the one aim of 

 reaching the clouds. When, after a cen- 

 tury or two it has reached its height, it 

 presents to the eye a straight pole ninety 

 or a hundred feet high, two feet in cir- 

 cumference all the way up, and topped 

 with a waving green ball as large around 

 as a cart-wheel. In that ball is a bud a 

 foot or two long and as thick as a man's 

 arm. It is encased in tough, fibrous lay- 

 ers of "boots." This bud, when cooked 

 as only a native can cook it, is very de- 

 licious and forms the chief article of food 

 for the poorer classes. Raw, it has 

 somewhat the taste of chestnuts. The 

 natives call it "cabbage." The "boots" 

 and the large leaves are sold at the fiber- 

 mills, where they are made into brushes 

 or used as "packing" for mattresses. 



The wood of the tree, at the heart, 

 is pithy and very fibrous ; this part, too, 

 is made into brushes and scrubbers. To- 

 wards the bark, and as the tree ages and 

 toughens, the wood is hard and springy, 

 and is much liked for walking canes. 

 Under water the logs of palmetto are al- 

 most everlasting; for this reason and be- 

 cause of the fact that the destructive ter- 

 edo bug shuns it, this wood is much in 

 demand for docks, where pilings -must be 

 under water. Above ground it is worth 

 little, excepting where natives use it as 

 logs for building purposes. The leaves, 

 which are large and palm-shaped, with a 

 stem perhaps ten feet long, are then used 

 to cover the buildings. 



In the month of May the Palmetto 

 sends out the bud stems which are about 

 three feet long. Each tree sends out 

 from six to twelve of these stems. They 

 are laden with tiny white, waxy blos- 

 soms, from which later are produced 

 round, black. berries. The bees feed on 

 the blossoms, making a honey that is de- 

 licious with a flavor peculiarly its own. 

 From the berries the famous "Palmetto 

 wine," which is used so much as a medi- 

 cine, is made. 



There are other varieties of Palmettos ; 

 some growing scarcely more than four 

 feet high. These are the Saw Palmetto 

 and the Needle Palmetto. The latter 

 grows more erect than the former and 

 may attain a height of eight feet, but 

 makes no "body," the stems of the leaves 

 coming directly from the crown just 

 above the ground, and growing straight 

 and slender, up to, perhaps, six feet be- 

 fore the leaf proper begins. Thus far 

 no commercial properties have been dis- 

 covered in the Needle Palmetto, but it 

 is very ornamental. The Saw Palmetto 

 grows lower with shorter stems and pro- 

 duces an abundance of berries like those 

 of the Cabbage Palmetto, though some- 

 what larger. It has also a commercial 

 value, because of the fine tannin con- 

 tained in its roots. These roots are from 

 six to twelve inches in circumference. 

 They run on top of the ground, often, a 

 distance of twenty-five feet or more. On 

 the underside of these roots are fine root- 

 lets, which feed the parent plant. Then 

 there is the Royal Palmetto, almost iden- 

 tical with the Cabbage Palmetto, but is 

 more royally beautiful. 



The spiral palm, the growth of which 

 is indicated by its name ; the umbrella 

 palm, and the sable palm, being more on 

 the ornamental than on the useful order, 

 can hardly be classed as "woods ;" but 

 they all belong to the same family as do 

 the Cabbage Palmetto. 



CYPRESS. 



Cypress is the peculiar wood of the 

 South. It grows only in swamps subject 

 to overflows. It grows very large in cir- 

 cumference at the base and tapers up to 

 about ten feet. When it has reached this 

 height it seems to have decided to stop 

 its tapering habit and grows on in uni- 

 form girth, perhaps sixty feet to the first 

 branch. The leaves of the Cypress tree 

 are fine, and similar to those of the cedar. 



When wanted for lumber the tree must 

 be deadened at least a year before cut- 

 ting, because it is so full of water that 

 the logs would sink unless first given 

 time to dry. Scaffolds are built, and on 

 these the woodsmen stand and chop the 

 tree high up where the tapering has 

 ceased. The logs are then light and eas- 

 ily floated out of the swamps. 



Cypress lumber is so valuable that 



