206 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
that the seed is oftenest gathered. Have these seeds then reached 
their full maturity? Some trustworthy experiments should be 
made to clear up this point. These experiments might simply 
consist of sowing in the same border seeds taken from cones 
gathered in the spring of the second year, and seeds from cones 
gathered from the same tree shortly before the seeds would have 
been shed naturally; and then to closely observe the growth of 
the trees produced from each sowing, in order to see if they were 
equally good and equally able to withstand the vicissitudes of the 
seasons. Until these experiments have been made, it is mani- 
festly better not to gather the cones for the seed till just before 
the time when the scales with the seed would naturally fall to 
the ground. It is almost impossible to get from seed-shops any 
cones but those which have been gathered too soon, often much 
too soon, the scales of which adhere so firmly to the stem, that in 
order to extract the seed one has to use a centre-bit to pierce the 
cone close at the stem. M. L.-Deslongchamps advises to begin 
by sawing off six or eight lines from the bottom and as much 
from the top of the cones, these portions containing only abortive 
seeds; by this operation the extraction of the seed is rendered 
much more expeditious. 
Mode of Vegetation and Dimensions.—The Cedar of Lebanon 
has a tap-root, and is very firmly rooted, otherwise it could not 
resist the wind, since its head is very wide-spreading when it 
stands alone. The trunk is straight, but when the tree stands 
alone it almost always divides at a greater or less distance from 
the ground into several branches, which usually assume the per- 
pendicular soon after they leave the trunk. When the trunk 
rises to a greater height, it diminishes rapidly in diameter, because 
the tree is furnished with branches from the ground like the firs, 
and amongst the number there are always some very thick ones. 
The leader is at first very brittle, and generally leans to the 
north or east, but the following year it straightens itself. 
The principal branches spread widely, and are covered on the 
upper side with thick foliage ; they are palm-shaped, which gives 
the Cedar of Lebanon a remarkably majestic appearance, easily 
distinguishable at a distance. The bark is of a deep brown-grey 
colour, and furrowed rather than rugged. 
The cedar grows well in a confined situation, where its trunk is 
straight and bare of branches; and it changes its appearance so 
much that it can scarcely be recognised, because, independently of 
