CUPRESSUS. 323 



V^itse forms a very ornamental hedge, and is coming very much 

 into use, for protecting gardens from the cold, for which pur- 

 pose it is admirably adapted. As a fence for keeping out 

 cattle, we do riot think it is sufficient. The Arbor Vitae is sure 

 to live when taken from nurseries ; but as they are frequently 

 purchased in the city, in crates, from Maine, they are very un- 

 certain, probably on account of the long exposure of the roots to 

 the sun and air, after they are dug, before they are packed. 

 These young plants may generally be had in Boston for about 

 thirty dollars per thousand. Before they are planted out to 

 form the hedge, they should be grown one or two years in nur- 

 sery rows. With the greatest care, many will die. When 

 those that survive have become firmly established, the most 

 vigorous may be selected, and, having the ground well pre- 

 pared, set them out about nine inches or a foot distant frc.n 

 each other; if they are taken up, and set out carefully, not one 

 in a hundred will fail ; but if they are set out immediately 

 upon receiving them, probably not one in four will thrive. The 

 Arbor Vitge bears pruning well, and may be brought into any 

 desired shape, and a single row will form an almost impene- 

 trable screen. 



CUPRESSUS. 



Cedar, or Cypress. 



" The Cypresses, to which this genus belongs, are low, ever- 

 green trees, natives of Europe, Asia, and North America, and 

 remarkable for their spiry form, and the closeness of grain, 

 and the durability of their wood. They have roundish, or 

 polyhedral cones, called galboles, and small, imbricated, scale- 

 like, four-rowed leaves. By the ancients the cypress was con- 

 sidered an emblem of immortality ; with 4he moderns, it is em- 

 blematical of sadness and mourning. 



1 Dark tree ! still sad, when others' grief is fled, 

 The only constant mourner of the dead.' Byron. 



