THE SOUTHERN CYPRESS. 17 
The seven grades of the Southern Cypress Manufacturers’ Associa- 
tion give the following averages in a number of representative locali- 
ties, with 5 to 15 years’ cut in the future: Tank, 2 per cent; clears, — 
15; select, 16; shop, 19; barn, dimension, and boxing, 27; peck, 9; 
ties, posts, and miscellaneous, 14 per cent. 
STOCK AND SEASONING. 
The great bulk of cypress is air-dried for periods of from 9 to 
12 months. A representative mill in Louisiana, carrying about 
45,000,000 feet of cypress in its yards, kiln-dried only 2 per cent of 
its lumber, but 60 per cent of its shingles and lath. Tank stock 3 
inches thick should have about 18 months for air-seasoning. Except 
in an emergency, little of the high grades is run through the kiln, since 
checks and raised grain often appear, but some mills kiln-dry the 
commons, and so hasten their disposal. Because of the large water 
content, green cypress shingles are very heavy. Kaln drying effects 
a reduction in weight of about one-half. For doors and other high- 
grade products, manufacturers call for lumber dried for from 10 to 
16 months, followed by kiln dryimg for from 3 to 20 days. Close mill 
utilization and the demand of the trade for air-seasoned cypress in a 
very large assortment of sizes and forms are the reasons why cypress 
mills carry a very much larger stock than mills of equal capacity 
operating in most other woods. Such large stocks are not turned 
over rapidly, and mills usually carry some lumber 2 or 3 years. The 
durability of cypress and its freedom from bluing and other injury 
affecting most woods account for the prevalence and entire success 
of open-air seasoning and slow handling of the stock. 
MARKETS AND LUMBER PRICES. 
Cypress was for a long time a little-known wood, used for the most 
part locally m the manufacture of shingles. It made but slow prog- 
ress in the general market, and was subject to frequent fluctuations, 
which were annoying and costly to operators with capital tied up in 
standing timber and manufacturing plants. Now it has come into 
national prominence and there is a strong domestic demand for it. 
Although the larger part of the entire cypress cut is marketed in the 
region east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio River, users and 
manufacturers in the Central and the Middle Western States are 
realizing more and more the value of cypress for certain purposes. 
The redwood of the Pacific coast has been to some extent a competitor 
of cypress, and cheap transportation through the Panama Canal may 
perhaps bring it into the eastern markets in larger quantities. 
96612°—Bull. 272152 | 
