70 CONIFERS AND TAXADS OF JAPAN 



irregular shape, giving the impression of numerous trunks rising from a common 

 stool. The impression is entirely false as the Cryptomeria does not sucker nor 

 stool, nor are adventitious growths developed by it. The Nikko avenue shows 

 this phenomenon remarkably well. Another point of interest is that the planted 

 trees of the Sugi exceed in average height the wild trees in the forests. 



The wood of the Sugi, though less valuable than that of the Hinoki (Chamaecy- 

 paris obtusa S. & Z.), is more generally used, being more plentiful and in conse- 

 quence cheaper. It is used in house-building generally and is especially valued for 

 making sake-tubs. Wood with particularly fine grain or any odd and curious 

 marking or color is valued for making ceilings, screens, doors and ornamental house- 

 fittings. Buried logs of this tree are found in many provinces of Japan, especially 

 Ise, Suruga, Sagami and Rikuzen, and in these the wood is a beautiful dark color 

 and is prized for making valuable furniture and ornaments. 



The Cryptomeria is very amenable to cultivation over the greater part of Japan, 

 where it is the most widely planted of all trees for reafforestation. In the govern- 

 ment, imperial and private forest-lands it is, and has been from earliest times, 

 planted -by the million everywhere from southern Kyushu to the most northern 

 parts of Hondo. Even in Hokkaido attempts to grow this tree have been made in 

 and about Hakodate, but the climate there is evidently too severe. The Sugi 

 takes root readily from cuttings and formerly this mode of propagation was 

 generally employed in forestry work. Branches as thick as the third finger 

 and from 0.3 to 0.5 m. long were put in the ground fairly close together in valley 

 and on hillside during late autumn, winter and early spring, according to climate, 

 and in time these grew and formed new forests. In the government forests to-day 

 this method has been abandoned in favor of seeds, which produce better and more 

 quick-growing trees, but the initial cost is greater than by using cuttings. Apart 

 from its value as a timber-tree or as a tree for avenues and groves, the Cryptomeria 

 is planted in Japanese gardens, where several curious forms have originated. It is 

 very commonly used with great success in making dense thick hedges. 



In a general way it may be said that the Cryptomeria does not flourish in 

 Western lands, where few really fine specimens are known, although it was intro- 

 duced into England in 1842. In eastern North America it is even less happy and is 

 not really hardy as far north as Boston, though it is possible to keep it alive in 

 sheltered spots in this Arboretum. I secured seeds of the Sugi from the Ugo forests 

 and it will be interesting to see if they produce a stock hardier than the trees we 

 now try to cultivate. In the parts of China with which I am familiar the Crypto- 

 meria occurs as an occasional tree planted near temples and over shrines, but 

 neither Henry nor I ever saw it spontaneous in China. Fortune (Residence among 

 the Chinese, 189, 277 [1857]) states that it grows wild on the mountains southwest 

 of Ningpo, and Franchet (in Nouv. Arch. Mus. Paris, ser. 2, VII. 101 [PI. David. 

 I. 291] [1884]) quotes David to the effect that this tree is wild, but is becoming very 

 rare on the mountains of the Fokien province. Nevertheless, further evidence is 

 desirable before it is accepted as an unquestionable fact that Cryptomeria japonica 

 is indigenous in China or anywhere outside of Japan. 



The Cryptomeria was first discovered in Japan between 1690 and 1692 by 

 Kaempfer, and in his Amoenitates Exoticae (fasc. V. 883 [1712]) he gives a short 

 description of it under its native name of Sugi. In 1701 James Cunningham found 

 it growing on the Chusan Islands, near Shanghai, China, and one of his speci- 

 mens is figured by Plukenet (Opera, IV. t. 386, fig. 3 (Amalt. 69) [1705]) under 

 the name of Cupressus cheusanensis, juniperinus arcuatis foliis, etc. It was in- 



