CEDAR. 



(Cedrus, Thuya, Chamcecyparis, Libocedrus, Juniperus.) 



Cedar was a name first applied to the true or Lebanon 

 cedars {Cedrus) of the Eastern continent, but later to certain 

 Arborvitses {Thuya), Junipers {Juniperus), and Cypresses 

 {Chamacyparis), and other trees (see " Spanish Cedar," page 

 122) from which durable, fine-grained, more or less fragrant 

 woods, known as cedar, are obtained. Cedar was highly 

 prized' by the ancients, who employed it in costly constructions, 

 such^as the temples of Solomon and of Diana at Ephesus.*t 

 Woods known as cedar are divided into so-called Red and 

 White Cedars. 



Red Cedar is very fine-grained, soft, light, durable, fra- 

 grant, and of a pinkish-red color. Much wood is derived from 

 the Red Cedars, Juniperits virginiana, Juniperus scopulorum, 

 and Juniperus barbadensis, of the Eastern, Western, and 

 Southern States respectively. Although seen in construction, 

 red cedar is chiefly used in chests, closets, lead-pencils, and 

 cigar-boxes. One hundred and twenty-five thousand trees 

 (125,000) X are annually required for lead-pencils alone. The 

 waste is often converted into shavings and used instead of 

 camphor to protect woolens. The demand is greater than the 

 supply. Trees are easily grown on almost any soil. Trees 

 and wood are subject to fungus diseases which apparently cease 

 after trees have been felled; the wood is then durable. § 



White Cedar is best defined as all cedar that is not "red 



* It is probable that the ancients also used the word Cedar somewhat generally. 



f Pliny, 16, 213 and 16, 216. 



X Notes on Red Cedar, Mohr. Bui. 31, U. S. Division Forestry (Gifford 

 Pinchot, Forester). 



§ Several of the fungoid parasites cause swellings known as " cedar apples." 

 The branches usually die. Professor von Schrenk recognizes two diseases of the 

 •viood., yfVAe. rot {Polyporus juniperus 'azhx^nV) and red rot (Polyporus carneus'). 

 (Bulletin No. 21, Division Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, U. S. Dept. 

 Agriculture.) 



167 



