of this, one of the most famous being the
cypresses planted about the Mt. Sinai Monastery by the monks more
than a thousand years ago and still standing there tall and green
in the arid region of southwestern Arabia. The shape of these
cypresses is singularly like that of many a cedar in our New
England pastures, though their height is far greater.

*****

And as the cedar and cypress are closely related in longevity, so
they are in the durability of their wood. The former gates of St.
Peter's at Rome were made of cypress in the time of Constantine.
When they were removed and brass ones substituted by Pope Eugenius
IV. they were still sound, though it was 1100 years since they
were first placed in position. Brass itself could hardly have
lasted better.

While the whole Appalachian Mountain region is dotted with
localities where the red cedar grows plentifully, it is only in
the southern portion that the best pencil wood is obtained. The
demand long ago outstripped the supply and the great old trees
that were peculiarly prized for the work have in the main passed.
These trees seem to ripen and mellow after passing maturity and
the wood from their red texture which makes it highly desirable
for pencil wood. Only the higher priced pencils now cut in that
smooth, cheesy, delightful fashion when being sharpened. The
cheaper ones have the knots and inequalities in the wood which
show them to have been taken from younger and immature trees.
Half a million cubic feet of the best quality of red cedar was
once used annually from these Southern forests in this country,
and nearly a hundred thousand feet of it was exported. A
generation ago one of the world's great pencil manufacturers, L.
von Faber, established a red cedar forest in Germany to see what
could be done to artificially supply the demand for the vanishing
wood. In 1875 he set young trees a foot and a half in height over
an extensive area. At the end of the century these trees had
attained a height of twelve feet and were growing thriftily. But
as the trees have to be nearly fifty years old before they will
furnish pencil wood, the value of the experiment is still
unproven.

But all this is by the way and is not to be compared with the joy
the red cedars give to the pasture world just by being there and
sending forth the beneficence of their personality upon all who
come. They make the finest nesting places for the birds in summer.
They feed them in autumn and