Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
Practically all (tall thin) trunks required for railway ties, posts, masts, etc. Seldom cut into lumber in consequence. Grows in light swamps often extensive and known as tamarack swamp. (Trans. Am. Inst. Mining Engineers, Vol. XXIX, page 157). [p166]
Tamarack, Larch (local and common names).
Western Larch, Great Western Larch, Red American Larch.
Washington and Oregon, intermittently to Montana.
Ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, two and one-half to four feet in diameter. A large tree.
Heartwood light red, thin sapwood lighter. Coarse-grained, compact structure, annual rings pronounced.
Posts, railway ties, fuel, limited quantity of lumber, similar to L. americana.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
A valuable tree of the Columbian basin. Differs from L. americana in that it grows on dry ground, often at high elevations. [p167]
[Illustration: PLATE 33. CEDAR (_Cedrus_, _Thuya_, etc.). Cedar of Lebanon (_Cedrus libani_). Foliage of White Cedar (_T. occidentalis_). Red Cedar Bark (_Juniperus virginiana_). Foliage of Red Cedar (_J. virginiana_). White Cedar Wood (_Thuya occidentalis_). Tree of Red Cedar (_J. virginiana_).]
CEDAR. (_Cedrus, Thuya, Chamæcyparis, Libocedrus, Juniperus_.)
Cedar was a name first applied to the true or Lebanon cedars (_Cedrus_) of the Eastern continent, but later to certain Arborvitæs (_Thuya_), Junipers (_Juniperus_), and Cypresses (_Chamæcyparis_), and other trees (see "Spanish Cedar," page 122) from which durable, fine-grained, more or less fragrant woods, known as cedar, are obtained. Cedar was highly prized by the ancients, who employed it in costly constructions, such as the temples of Solomon and of Diana at Ephesus.[91][92] Woods known as cedar are divided into so-called Red and White Cedars.
Red Cedar is very fine-grained, soft, light, durable, fragrant, and of a pinkish-red color. Much wood is derived from the Red Cedars, _Juniperus virginiana_, _Juniperus scopulorum_, and _Juniperus barbadensis_, of the Eastern, Western, and Southern States respectively. Although seen in construction, red cedar is chiefly used in chests, closets, lead-pencils, and cigar-boxes. One hundred and twenty-five thousand trees (125,000)[93] are annually required for lead-pencils alone. The waste is often converted into shavings and used instead of camphor to protect woolens. The demand is greater than the supply. Trees are easily grown on almost any soil. Trees and wood are subject to fungus diseases which apparently cease after trees have been felled; the wood is then durable.[94]