396 



The Cedar of Lebanon 



MAUD ROBINSON TOOMBS 



Fl\( )M e:'.r!iest Biblical times the Cedar of Lebanon 

 was the symbol of majesty and was held sacred. 

 It is called "the tree of Jehovah planted by His 

 right hand crowning the great mountains," and in the 

 XCII Psalm is the beautiful verse: 



The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: 

 he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 



This cedar is a native of Syria on the coldest part of 

 Mt. Lebanon where it grows at an altitude of 7.000 feet. 

 It is a coniferous evergreen of the larger sort, bearing 

 large roundish cones of 

 smooth scales, standing 

 erect, needles one inch 

 long and thick set. The 

 wood is of reddish hue and 

 very aromatic, reputed al- 

 most imperishable and of 

 such bitter taste that worms 

 and bugs cannot endure it. 

 For this reason the an- 

 cients used tablets of cedar 

 when they wrote anything 

 they wished to last. They 

 also smeared their books 

 and writings with a juice 

 drawn from cedar to pre- 

 serve them from rotting. 

 Cortes is said to have 

 built a palace in Mexico in 

 which were 7,000 beams 

 of cedar mo.st of it 120 

 feet long and 4 feet in dia- 

 meter. The cedar used in 

 the main mast of the galley 

 of King Demetrius meas- 

 ured 130 feet long and 18 

 feet in (iiameter. The 

 wood was in particular 

 demand for religious build- 

 ings. King Hiram of Tyre 

 sent it to King David as 

 the most precious material 

 with which to build the 

 temple of Tcrtisalem. 



Its massive trunks, great 

 height and dark heavy foliage, green at all seasons made 

 the forests of Lebanon famous the world over, even^ in 

 the days of the prophets. Heroes and emperors were 

 likened to the kingly cedar of Lebanon, until it stood for 

 ail that was most precious and majestic in trees. The 

 wonderful fragrance of its wood, wliich never dies away. 

 also made it highly prized. 



Some of the giant trees on the slopes of Mt. Lebanon 

 were said to have been planted by Solomon himself, and 

 when Palestine was opened to the Christians in the 

 Aliddle Ages the patriarchs threatened with ecclesiastical 

 censure those who harmed these venerable old trees liy 

 making pilgrimages to them in order to collect wood for 

 crosses, tabernacles and the interior of churches. In this 

 manner, the grove was no doubt saved for future genera- 

 tions, but a scientific investigation conducted by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, the eminent English botanist in 1860 rc- 

 ])ortcd a rapidly diminishing number of trees. Those 

 remaining did not exceed four hundred in number, var\ - 



The Old Cedar of Lebanon al FlusJiin!;. Lon;^ Island. X. )' 



ing in girth from 18 to 40 feet, and he found no seedlings 

 or young trees, showing that favorable conditions for the 

 germination of the seed must occur at great intervals. It 

 will be seen therefore how rare and valuable these trees 

 are and how difficult to raise from seed. 



In 1863 the cedar of Lebanon was introduced into Eng- 

 land, and in the latter part of the 18th century it was 

 brought to this country. It is claimed that there are only 

 five adult specimens in the United States, many of the 

 trees which pass for Lebanon Cedars, both in this country 

 and in England. Iieing the much easier grow'n and- far 



less valuable Cedar of Mt. 

 -Atlas. The trees in the 

 ' L'nited States are : 



The "Old Cedar" in a 

 field in the northern sec- 

 tion of Flushing, Long 

 Island; one on the Prince 

 estate, also in Flushing : 

 one at Woodlawn, Prince- 

 ton, New Jersey ; one on 

 the Collis Huntington es- 

 tate at Throggs Neck, L. 

 I., and one in Idaho. 



The "Old Cedar" has a 

 right to its title as it is the 

 largest and most venerable 

 of the five trees. It has 

 been the object of many 

 pilgrimages from tree 

 lovers all over the country, 

 some coming all the way 

 irom the Pacific coast, and 

 with reason, for it is a ma- 

 jestic specimen. It stands 

 at a height of 75 feet, with 

 a diameter of 6 feet, and 

 its lower limbs extend 54 

 feet. Its heavy and matted 

 branches spread their plane- 

 shaped masses of dark 

 green, both Winter and 

 Sununer. The origin of 

 this venerable ancester can- 

 not be traced but it was 

 probably brought over as a 

 seedling in Revolutionary times. 



The cedar on the Huntington estate was imported by 

 Philip Livingston the former owner of the estate. It is 

 about 70 feet tall. 



The Princeton tree was planted at \\'oodlawn by the late 

 Judge Feld in 1842. It is in the neighborhood of 60 feet. 

 The tree in Idaho was one of two trees planted from 

 seed brought from the Holy Land many years ago. One 

 tree died, but the survivor — a mere youngster as cedars 

 are measured — is about 40 feet high and has a diameter 

 of about 14 inches near its base. 



The Cedar of Lebanon is one of the hardest trees to 

 propagate, and almost every one who has tried it has 

 failed. The "Old Cedar" in Flushing was particularly 

 the subject of experiments and was at last pronounced 

 sterile, as no one had ever obtained results with its seeds. 

 It remained for C. H. Runtleman of that town to experi- 

 ment successfullv with its cones. He loved the tree, made 

 it his hobby, and finally, after many years spent in strug- 



