A R 



gently to their roots •, thefc beds Hiould be arched over 

 with hoops, and covered with mats in the heat of the 

 day, to fhade the plants from the fun till thcy^ have 

 taken new root -, and if the nights prove frofty, it will 

 be proper to keep the mats over them in the night, 

 but in cloudy or moid weather they muft be always 

 open. After the plants are well rooted, they will re- 

 quire no other care but to keep them clean from weeds, 

 unlefs the feafon fliould prove very dry, in which cafe 

 it will be proper to give them fome water once^ or 

 " twice a week; but it muft be but in fmall quantities, 

 for too much wet is often very injurious to them ; io 

 that it will be better to fcreen them from the fun in 

 hot \^cather, to prevent the earth from drying too 

 faft, or cover the furface of the ground with mofs to 

 keep it cool, than to water the plants often. 

 In thefe beds the plants m.ay ftand two years, then 

 they ftould be either tranfplanted to the places where 

 they are defigned to remain, or to a nurfery where 

 they may grow two years more ; but the younger thefe 

 plants are when they are planted out for good, the 

 better the trees will thrive, and the longer they will 



continue. " - 



When thefe plants begin to flioot ftrong, you will 

 generally find the leading fhoot incline to one fide ; 

 therefore, if you intend to have them ft?ait, you muft 

 fupport them with (takes, obferving to keep the leader 

 always clofe tied up, until you have got them to the 

 height you defign them, otherwife their branches w^ill 

 ' extend on every fide, and prevent their growing tall. 

 ■ Thefe trees are by many people kept in pyramids, 

 and flieared as Yews, &c, in. which form they lofe 

 their greateft beauty; for the extenfion of the branches 

 is very fingular in this tree, their Ihoots for the moft 

 part are declining, and thereby fhewing their upper 

 furface, which is conftantly clothed with green leaves 

 in fo regular a manner, as to appear at fome diftance 

 like a green carpet ^ and thefe waving about with.the 

 wind, make one of the rfibft agreeable profpeds that 

 can be to terminate a yiila',' eij 



2:i:n- 



\ 



A R 



for two of the four trees above-n-ientionct.], bcin 

 advifedly planted nearagreen-houfe, when rlicy bc*?aa 

 to grow large had their branches lopped, to iec'rhc 

 rays of the fun into the houfc, w]:crcby ihcy have bcc; 

 fo much checked, as at prefent they are little moic 

 than half the fizc of the other two. 

 Thefe trees have all of them produced, for feveral 

 years, large quantities of katkins (or n:iale flowers ) 

 though there are but three of them which have as vcc 

 produced cones ; nor is it above thirty-five years that 

 thefe have ripened their cones, fo as to pcrfeft th'* 

 feed i but now the feeds which fall out of the cones 

 on the ground near them, produce plants in plenty 

 which come up naturally without care : and fince v;e 

 find that they are fo far naturalized to our country as 

 to produce ripe feeds, we need not fear bcino- focn 

 fupplied with enough, without depending on thofe 

 cones which are brought from the Levant ; as there 

 are many trees of this kind in England, which ah*eady 

 do, and abundance more which in a few years muft 

 certainly bear ; but I find they are more fubjcft to 

 produce and ripen their cones in hard winters than 

 in mild ones ; which is a plain indication, that they 

 will fucceed, even in the coldcft parrs of Scotland, 

 where, as well as in England, ihey might be propa- 

 gated to great advantage. 



What we find mentioned in fcripture of the lofty Ce- 

 dars, can be no ways applicable to the ftaturc of this 

 tree ; fince, from the experience we have of thole 

 now growing in Englai^d, as alfo from the tcftimony 

 of feveral travellers, who have vifited thofe few ic- 

 maining trees on Mount Libanus, they are not inclined 

 to grow very lofty, but, on the contrary, extend their 

 branches very far j to which the allufion made by the 



13 de 



fcril 



oing the 



Pfalmift agrees veiy well, when he 

 flourijhin^ ftate pf a people, and fays, They ftiall 

 - fprea9 their brandies like the Cedar-tree. 



• ♦ 



k^^ ^ 



:U 



'' Raviwolf, in his Travels, fays,- there were not at tliat 



time (i. e. anno 1574) upon Mount Libanus more than 



26 trees remaining, 24 of which flood in a circle*, and 



the other two, which flood at a fmall diftance, had 



^t:{s rnatter 6rTurprife to me, that thisTfee Tiath" riot I ' their branches alm.ofl confumed with age ^ nor could 



been more cultivated in England formerly, for till he find any younger trees corrirng up to fucceed them, 



.1 within a few, years pafl, there were but few here; I though he looked about diligently for fome. Thefe 



™t 



'!■- 



V- 



\*- 





r- 



^'"Tinoe it would be a great ornament to barren bleak 

 " mountains, where few other trees will grow fo well, 

 Jt being a native of the coldeft parts of Mount Li- 

 banus, where the fnow continues great part of the 

 year. And from the obferyations I have made of 

 - . thofe now growing in England, I find they thrive befl 

 on the pooreft foil •, for luch of them as have been 



planted in a ftrong, rich, loamy earth, have made but a | from Fir-trees. The leaves (continues" he) are very 



like to thofe of the Larch-tree, 2;rcwin 



trees (he fays} were growing at the foot of a firiall hill, 

 • on the top of the mountains, and amongft the fnow. 



Thefe having very large branches, commonly bend 

 ■' the tree to one fide, but are extended to a great length, 



and in fo delicate and pleafant order, as if they were 

 ■ trimmed and made even with great diligence, by 



w^hich they are eafily diftinguiftied at a great diftance 



/ 



, poor progrefs, in comparifon to fuch as have grown 

 ..upon a ftony meagre foil. And that thefe trees are 



of quTck growth, is evident from four of them now 



growing in the phyfic garden at Chelfea, which (as I ^ ^ 



have be-en credibly informedjwerepjanted there in the I . fome of which MTe"of a prodigious bulk, -but* tha 



j_j.^ ^ clofe together 



in little bunches upon fmall brown fhoots. - ' 

 Maundrel in his Travels, fays, there were butfixteen 

 * large trees remaining when he vifited the mountains, 



■year 168^, and at that time were not above three feet 



high ; two of which trees are at this time (viz. 1 766) 



, upwards of twelve feet and a half in girt, at two feet 



above ground, and their branches extend more than 



t\Yenty feet ojicyery fide their trunH§> w;hifh bratiches 



;. (^though they are produced Jwelye or fourteen feet 



;;. afcove the furface) do at every termination Kang very 



"'near Ihe ground, and thereby afford a' goodly fhade 





in the hottefl feafon of the year, .-^ * 



,'^Xhe foil in which thefe trees arc planted, is a lean 



y^ hungry fand mixed with gravel, the furface of which 



\-'is fcarcely two feet deep before a hard roclcy gravel 



'„ appears.- Thefe trees ftand at four c6rncrs~*br apohd, 



3^hich is bricked up within two feet of their trunks, 



fo that their roots have no room to fpread on one fide, 



^r^and confequently are cramped in their growth \ but 



"whether their ftanding fo near the water may hot Have 



beejn SL^vantageous to them, T cannot fay, but fure I 



am, if their roots, had had full fcope in the ground, 



they would have made a greater progrefs. I have 



alfo obferved, that lopping or cutting of thefe trees 



is very injurious to them (more, perhaps, than "to any 



other of the refinous trees) in retarding their growth j 



; there were many more young trees of a fmaller fizej 



lie meafured one of the largeft, and found it to be 12 



yards 6 inches in girt, and yet found, and 37 yards in 



". the fpread of its bough's. 'At about five or fix yards 



'from the ground it was divided into five limbs, each 



*; of which was equal to a ereat tree. * What Maundrel 



"' hath related, was confirmed to me by a worthy een- 



tlcman or my acquaintance, who was there in the year 



' 1*720, vvith this difference only, viz. in the dimcnfions 



. of the branches oFthe laVcreft tree^ which he affjreJ 



me he meafured, and found to'be W'enty-two yards 



. diameter. Now, whether Mr. Maundrel meant thirty- 



fevehyards in circumference of the fpreading branches^ 



"or the diameter of ttiem', cannot 'be determined by his 



expfefTidns, yiet either of them Well a 



friend's account: 



H 



ces v/ith my 



'-J 



Monfieur Le Brun reckons about 35 or 36 trees re- 

 maining" upon Mount Libanus when he was there, 

 and would perfuade us it was not eafy to reckon their 

 numbers (as is reported of our Stonehenge on Saliftr^ury 

 Plain.) ,He alfo fays, their cones do fome of them 

 grow dependent. Which is abundantly confuted by 

 the above-mentioned travell rs; 'as alfo from our own 



experience. 



