I have seen no trees in Scotland of any size, and Henry has heard of none in Ireland, but there is one in the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens 31 feet by 3 feet in 1905.
Timber
According to Sargent the timber is light and soft, close, straight grained, not strong, easily worked, and very durable in contact with the soil. It is largely used for building, most of the houses in Louisiana and the Gulf States being built from it, and large quantities are also now exported to the North, where it is found a most valuable wood for doors, sashes, balustrades, and greenhouses.
The Stearns Lumber Company of Boston, U.S.A., are making a speciality of it, and from a pamphlet published by this firm I take the following particulars:—
The timber varies considerably in different localities, and they consider, after long experience, that the so-called Gulf Cypress, grown in Florida, is better than the Louisiana Red Cypress, or that from the Atlantic coast of Georgia. Farther north it is apt to be more shaky and of coarser grain; and it is claimed that the seasoning is better done in the South than in the Northern States, from one to five years being required to do this properly, according to the dimensions of the timber, and that the longer in reason that it is kept in the pile before using the better.
It is said to be more durable, and to shrink and swell less than spruce or pine, to take paint well, and, as it contains no pitch, to resist fire longer than other coniferous woods.
It is quoted from the Richmond Despatch that a house, built by Michael Braun in 1776, and still owned and occupied by his descendants, was covered with cypress shingles, which were only removed in 1880.
Such shingles are now made by machinery at a very low price, and would be well worth trying for roofing houses in England, as they are very light in weight and inexpensive, and though I have no evidence that they are better than shingles made from English oak, their much greater size makes them easier to lay, and they can be cut to fancy patterns, which makes them very ornamental for roofing.
This wood is also highly recommended for doors, sashes, tanks, and other purposes where a great power of enduring damp is required.
It occasionally produces very ornamental wood, which is mottled and grained with red and brown, and some doors made of this wood, two of which I now possess, are extremely handsome.
Whether the wood grown in England will prove equally good I cannot say, as large trees are so seldom cut down in England that I have been unable to try it, but would certainly advise anyone who may have the opportunity to do so. (H.J.E.)
