The Cedar. 



Philadelphia, to a distinct class of mechanics called Cedar 

 " Coopers, and a great number of workmen are employed 

 " for the domestic and foreign market. They fabricate, 

 " principally, pails, washtubs, and chm*ns, of different 

 " forms. This ware is cheap, light, and neatly made; and 

 " instead of becoming dull, like that of other wood, it grows 

 " whiter and smoother by use. The hoops are made of 



young Cedars, stripped of the bark and split into two 



parts. The saplings are appropriated exclusively to this 

 " object, and vary in price from live to fifteen dollars a 

 " thousand, according to their length : the largest are two 

 " inches thick at the base, and eleven or twelve feet long. 

 ^' At the mouth of the river Cape Fear, the pilots and fisher- 



men cover the sides of their boats with clap-boards of 

 " White Cedar, which they prefer to those of Cypress, as 



being lighter, more durable, and less liable to split. I 

 " have been assured that this wood, selected with care, 

 " makes excellent sound-boards for forte-pianos. The 

 " merchants of Philadelphia find it best for preserving oils. 



Charcoal, highly esteemed in the manufactory of gunpow- 



der, is made of young stocks about an inch and a half in 

 " diameter, deprived of their bark ; and the seasoned wood 

 " affords beautiful lamp-black, lighter and more intensely 

 " coloured, though less abundant, than that obtained from 

 " the Pine. In the lumber-yards of Philadelphia, White 

 " Cedar boards from New Jersey, ten or twelve feet long, 

 " and of a mean breadth less than thirteen inches, are sold 



at twenty dollars a thousand feet. In New Jersey, not far 

 " from Philadelphia, the farmers on the borders of the 

 " Cedar Swamp employ this tree for field-fence: the rails, 



formed of young stocks, entire or split in the middle, last 



from fifty to sixty years when deprived of the bark : they 

 *^ are sold at six or eight dollars a hundred, and the stocks 

 " proper for posts at twelve or fifteen cents a-piece. 



