TIMBEE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 91 
posts, coopers' work, boats, and building. This tree ap- 
preciates swampy situations. The wood is Ught, soft, 
reddish in colour, and bears exposure remarkably well. 
It is abundant in the Canadian j)rovinces of Quebec and 
Ontario, where it grows to a considerable height but small 
diameter, and is the timber chiefly used for telegraph posts. 
Incense Cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) is another large tree 
which grows in Oregon and California, producing a fine- 
grained wood (Fig. 16). 
Idaho Cedar has been largely used in the past for telegraph 
posts, but many districts from which the supplies have 
hitherto come will be worked out in ten or fifteen years' 
time. 
Canoe Cedar or Red Cedar of the West, also called giant 
arbor vitae {T. gigantea or T. plicata), used by the Indians 
for canoes, is another white cedar of the States timber 
trade and ranks next to Douglas fir as a timber tree in 
British Columbia, and in Vancouver Island it attains a 
great size. It is found in the Selkirk Hills ; though rarely 
more than 150 ft. in height, it is of the considerable 
diameter of 8 to 10 ft. In Canada it is chiefly used for 
shingles. The wood takes a fine polish suitable for interior 
finishing, as there is much variety of shading in the colour. 
It is also a good deal used for fencing and telegraph posts. 
This tree is in the Vancouver district often confused 
with the yellow cypress or yellow cedar (Thuya excelsa), 
a tree of about the same height, but of less diameter, and 
which produces timber of a similar character. 
The cedar woods above described are soft and stiff, but 
not strong, of fine texture, season rapidly, shrink and warp 
but little, are very durable, and owing to this quality are, 
as has been stated, preferred for shingles and much used 
