222 FOREST TREES. 
the Lower Mississippi it is often one hundred and 
twenty feet high, with a straight, clean shaft, desti- 
tute of branches for the greater part of its height, 
and a spreading flattened summit. It grows almost 
exclusively in swamps and alluvial lands. In the 
bayous, and ponds called alligator holes, in the bot- 
tom lands of the Yazoo and other southern rivers, the 
Cypress is often seen in company with the Tupelo, 
growing in water three or four feet deep, the trunks 
standing so thickly that there is not room to wield 
an axeamong them. The water flowing from these 
ponds has the appearance of French brandy, a color 
said to be communicated to it by the roots of the 
Cypress trees. 
With regard to the value of the wood, Misha 
says: “It is fine-grained, and after being some time 
exposed to light, of a reddish color; it possesses great 
strength and elasticity, and is lighter and less resin- 
ous than that of the Pines. To these properties is 
added the faculty of long resisting the heat and 
moisture of the Southern climate.” 
The wood is employed for most purposes for which 
Pine is used, and is far more durable. Posts made 
from it last a long time in the ground. Cypress 
shingles last forty years. Sugar-hogsheads and casks 
for containing molasses are made of it. Trees which 
grow where they are surrounded by water a great 
part of the year, are called White Cypresses; those 
grown in dryer lands, Black Cypresses. The wood of 
the latter is heavier, more resinous and darker colored 
than that of the former. 
