DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF TRAVELLERS. 133 



in September, 1836, states they found fifteen out of 

 the sixteen old trees mentioned by Maundrell. Belon, 

 who was perhaps the first recorded visitor (his visit 

 having been made in 1550), says the trees are sup- 

 posed to amount to twenty-eight in number, it being 

 difficult to count them correctly. 



The cedar seldom produces cones until it is forty 

 years old, and sometimes not until it attains a 

 hundred years, it is said, no tree in a state of nature 

 being so limited in its means for reproduction. 



Seed should be sown in April, in ground that has 

 been made fine, placed about an inch apart. In six 

 weeks the young plants will appear, thick sowing 

 helping them to break the ground. The same treat- 

 ment followed in the case of the Scotch pine and 

 larch is appropriate to the cedar, allowing them to 

 stand one or two years in nursery lines, and then 

 removing them in order to give additional fibres to 

 the roots, which is essential for their successful 

 removal. Although making somewhat slow progress 

 at first, judiciously treated, they can be reared in a 

 satisfactory manner. The tree does not like the knife 

 applied to it either root or branch. If its top is cut 

 off it, becomes a grand rugged bush. When planted 

 thickly together the tree rises, like other species of 

 Conifercz, with a straight bare trunk, differing very 

 slightly from the larch in appearance, save in being 

 evergreen. When planted by itself it commonly 

 assumes a broad conical figure till it has attained its 

 height, when its lateral branches begin to extend 

 when the full-grown tree presents a head with a 

 broad flat surface. About two feet yearly is its rate 

 of growth until it reaches its full height. 



