\ 
10 BULLETIN 272, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
At present, however, purchasers largely specify against dry-kiln and 
in favor of long-period air-seasoned lumber. 
Cypress shrinks about 8 to 10 per cent in volume,’ and in this re- 
spect is intermediate between the hght and heavy pines. | 
USES. 
Cypress has a great variety of uses, and for many of these it is 
selected as a preferred material. The key to its usefulness is its re- 
sistance to decay and other forms of deterioration when in contact 
with moisture, and its quality of being easily worked. It is used ex- 
tensively for outside finish of buildings, such as siding, casing, sashes, 
doors and blinds, cornice, railings,stepsand porch material. Asagutter 
stock, cypress outlasts many other materials and is in favor for high- 
grade work. Standard planing products consume large quantities 
of cypress. These include ceiling, siding, flooring, molding, and 
finish. On account of its freedom from taste and great durability 
it is a preferred material for tanks, vats, tubs, and wooden buckets. 
These are used for water storage, and by creameries, breweries, baker- 
ies, dye works, distilleries, and soap and starch factories. In the 
construction of greenhouses, where wood is subjected to extremes of 
heat and moisture, cypress is used probably more than any other 
wood. It is also a leadmg wood for pumps, laundry appliances, cas- 
kets, and coffins. Cypress is extensively used throughout the South 
in the construction of picket fences, which there remain the standard 
form of yard fence. In the moist, hot climate of the South, split 
cypress shingles have outlasted all other roofing materials commonly 
used, except the best grade of slate and tiles. While the ordinary 
sawed shingle is very durable, the relatively high value of cypress 
wood has resulted in cedar taking the lead as shingle material. 
More than two-thirds of the total cypress-lumber output, estimated 
in round figures at 740,000,000 board feet in 1914, is further manu- 
factured and utilized by the wood-manufacturmg industries m the 
United States. The reports for 1911 show that 68 per cent (668,- 
353,342 board feet) of the amount cut in that year was so used by these 
industries.?, The balance of the lumber cut goes into general use in 
the retail market. 
Relatively small amounts of cypress go into the primary products 
other than lumber. In 1911 the electric and steam railroads pur- 
chased cypress crossties to the number of approximately 5,800,000 or 
about 4.3 per cent of the total for the year.2 Only 72,995 cypress 
poles were reported purchased in 1911 by all the principal classes of 
1 See Forest Service Circular 19, pp. 10-11, for earlier experiments in drying cypress wood. 
2 Taking the year 1911 as an average year for figures collected from the wood-using industries in the 
period 1910 to 1912, inclusive. 
3 Includes large numbers of ties from pecky hearts and hewed small-pole timber. Figures for 1911 are ~ 
latest available for ties, poles, and cooperage. 
