CONTINENTAL NOTES — FRANCE. 165 



tion has increased progressively, till now they are often found 

 as thick as grass. 



On Mont Ventoux the cedar forms about a quarter of an 

 area of some 150 hectares, the remainder of the stock consisting 

 of various pines (Scots, P. Laricio, and others). This is a high 

 pole forest, but whereas the pines are 40 to 50 feet high, 

 with a mean girth of 3 feet or a little over, the cedars reach 

 50 to 60 feet of height, with a mean girth of 4 feet. But at 

 first the cedar is a little outgrown. 



The form of the tree reacts to the density of the crop, being 

 pyramidal and branchy in open spots, but more cylindrical and 

 clean in close-grown places. The young plant is somewhat 

 tender to frost, but escapes when sheltered. It is a shade-bearer,. 

 and M, de Brun speaks of the wood as indestructible. It has 

 the characteristic aromatic scent of the cedar in its original 

 home, and is resinous. 



In these respects the Lebanon cedar on Mont Ventoux 

 appears to be similar to its cousin the deodar, in this country. 

 M. de Brun speaks of a taproot to the cedar, which makes it 

 difficult to plant out, so that he thinks it should only be sown; 

 but a deodar transplanted in the nursery* when quite small 

 seems to be at least supplied with a great number of other 

 roots as well, even if the taproot is sometimes troublesome. 

 I have in my charge several acres of young deodar mixed with 

 its natural associate, the blue pine {P. excelsa), itself a valuable 

 timber, and I find the deodar more liable to fail than the pine. 

 Planted out in the autumn the deodar appears to suffer if the 

 following winter is hard, and if planted out in the spring the 

 failures also seem to be more numerous when the preceding 

 winter has been severe. But as yet I am not quite sure 

 whether this latter deduction is correct. Once the plantation 

 is under way the deodar thrives, though the growth of the 

 early years is slow. A deodar in a garden, unlike the true 

 Lebanon cedar, does not seem to thrive after some forty years, 

 but grown in forest conditions things may be different. If so, 

 the fact will be very important, considering the extraordinary 

 durability of the wood of deodar in its natural home, at from 

 6000 to 9000 feet in the Himalayas. The climate of that place 

 is much like our own, though the sunlight is much more intense. 

 One should probably, therefore, plant on a hot aspect; also, for 

 this mountain tree, sloping ground would be suitable. 



