The trees are usually scattered among others of different kinds, forming occasionally, however, forests of considerable size. They are to be found all through the northern part of the United States and in Canada, also on the Pacific Coast in California, Oregon, and Wash ington. They also grow to some extent in the southern states. Some of the trees are of small or medium size, while others are very large, especially the canoe cedar of the Northwest.
In addition to the white cedars, there are the red cedars, which are similar to the white cedars but differ from them slightly in the color of the wood, which is reddish brown instead of grayish brown. The red cedars are also of somewhat finer texture than the white cedars. Red cedar is used but little in building con struction, but is used extensively in cabinet work for chests and closets which this wood is supposed to render proof against moths. The wood is also used for the making of lead pencils and for cigar boxes, large quantities of timber being used for these purposes every year.
Cedar trees are sometimes subject to a disease similar to wet rot, which attacks the growing tree. This disease does not, how ever, render them unfit for use in every case, as the disease often disappears as soon as the tree has been cut down, and trees have been known to yield timber which has endured for long periods, although the living tree itself was diseased.
Redwood. There is a wood which greatly resembles good red cedar and which is found only in the State of California. One species of this tree grows to an enormous size and is famous on this account, but this is not the one which yields the lumber used for building purposes, which is known as the common redwood. The wood is used for cheap interior finish and for shingles, also for use in heavy construction, thus serving nearly the same purposes as does hard pine in the eastern states. Redwood is light, and not very strong, but on the other hand, it is remarkably durable, resisting fire to a considerable extent. It is easy to work and will take a polish so that it is valuable for inside finish, and some of the wood has a wavy grain which adds greatly to its finished appearance. This wood is known as "curly" redwood. In color the heartwood is red, but the sapwood is nearly white, with the wood between them varying in color and averaging a rich reddish brown. The grain is
usually straight and the wood is solid and dense in structure but the grain is more or less coarse in appearance.
Cypress. This is a wood which is somewhat similar to white cedar in appearance, and which grows in quantities only in the southern states, where it may be seen in great swamps with the roots very often partially exposed. Although there are a great many varieties, they are similar in their general characteristics, differing only in quality. "Gulf Cypress," growing near the Gulf of Mexico, is the best. "Bald Cypress," is a name which has been applied to these trees on account of the fact that they show no leaves in winter and this gives them a peculiar appearance. When the wood is dark in color it is called "Black Cypress," and in some localities yellow and red cypress are spoken of. The growing trees are often affected by a disease which leaves the wood full of small holes which look as though they might have been made by driving pegs into the wood and then withdrawing them. Cypress wood affected in this way is called "peggy." Hemlock. There are two varieties of hemlock, one found in the northern states, from Maine to Minnesota, and along the Alle ghenies southward to Georgia and Alabama, while the other is found in the west from Washington to California and eastward to Montana. The eastern tree is smaller than the western and its wood is lighter, softer, and generally inferior. The trees are evergreen and bear cones, with flat, blunt needles, and they usually grow alone or in small groups in the midst of forests of other trees.
The timber is of a light, reddish-gray color, fairly durable, but shrinks and checks badly, and is coarse, brittle, and usually cross grained. It is hard to work but will hold nails very well. The wood is sometimes used for cheap framing, and has been used for cheap interior finish, but it is so liable to imperfections, such as wincishakes and starshakes, that it is not the best wood to use for these purposes, although the increasing cost of the better woods will no doubt force it into more general use. Hemlock is most frequently used for rough boarding and sheathing.