Cupressus 1213 



there are three trees of which the best is 3 4 ft. high and 4 ft. 4 in. in girth near 

 the ground, where it divides into several stems. 



It is probable that if it was planted on the southern coast in suitable places it 

 would be longer-lived, and might be worth trying on account of its ornamental 

 appearance and interest. As Loudon, however, points out, a swamp would probably 

 be too cold in summer in this country ; and a deep moist sand is probably the best 

 soil for it.^ 



Timber 



In America the wood of this tree is highly valued for shingles, which were 

 formerly used in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other towns in the district 

 where it grows, in preference to those made of the wood of the deciduous cypress, 

 because they do not split when nailed on the rafters. They were said to be more 

 durable than white pine shingles, and to last for thirty to thirty-five years. It was 

 also largely used by coopers for casks ; and the poles are still highly valued for 

 telegraph and fencing posts. 



Defebaugh^ quotes from Hough's Report on Forestry (1877), and from Cook's 

 Geology of New Jersey (1868), very interesting details on the submerged cedar 

 forests, which are found near Dennisville and elsewhere in New Jersey, and which 

 are supposed by geologists to have been caused either by a subsidence of the land 

 or an irruption of the sea. The trees here were larger than any found living in 

 the adjacent country within the memory of man, some having been dug up which 

 were 6 ft. in diameter, while trees 4 ft. through were common. 



" The timber which is buried in the swamps undergoes scarcely any change, 

 and trees which have been buried hundreds of years are as sound as ever. It 

 would seem that most of the timber which ever grew in these swamps is still 

 preserved in them. Trunks of trees are found buried at all depths, quite down to 

 the gravel, and so thick that in many places a number of trials will have to be made 

 before a sounding-rod can be thrust down without striking against them. Tree 

 after tree, from 200 to 1000 years old, may be found lying crossed one under the 

 other, some partly decayed, as if they had died and remained standing a long time 

 and then been broken down. Others had been blown down, and some had con- 

 tinued to grow for a long time after falling, as known by the heart being much 

 above the centre, and by the wood on the under side being hard and boxy. The 

 trees lie in all directions, as if fallen at different times, and their united ages, as 

 shown where trees have grown where others have fallen, amounts to some thousands 

 of years. The process of mining this timber is as follows : — With an iron rod the 

 swamp is sounded till it hits what is thought to be a good log. Its length and size 

 is determined by the rod, as near as may be. A hole is dug with a sharp spade 



' Since writing the above, I have seen C. thyoides flourishing in the remarkable plantation near Bordeaux, made eighty 

 to ninety years ago at Catros, by a nurseryman of that name. M. Jaille, the present proprietor, showed me, among other 

 rare American trees, a specimen of this measuring 52 ft. by 4^ ft., and others perhaps taller with trunks clean to 8 or 10 ft. 

 high. Several self-sown seedlings were growing in this place on a sandy moist soil, similar to that of the Landes. 



* History of the Lumber Industry of America, ii. 494 (Chicago, 1907). 



