464 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



number of fine trees, the largest of which I found to be about 105 feet by 16^ feet, 

 dividing at about 1 5 feet up into five or six tall, straight stems. 



In Wales I have seen none remarkable for size except a tree at Maesleugh 

 Castle which is about i(X) feet by 16J feet, with a clean stem about 20 feet high. 



In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, even where the soil is good, the cedar does not 

 attain the same dimensions as in the south of England, but it ripens seed at least 

 as far north as Syston Park, where there are some trees near the house in an exposed 

 position at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea-level, which show remarkable 

 variation in colour. When I saw them on i6th June one was only just opening its 

 buds, and looked quite black in comparison with others whose new leaves were well 

 out and of a very glaucous colour. This colour is reproduced by their seeds, for two 

 young trees raised from them, which were kindly given me by Sir John Thorold, 

 are so glaucous that every- one who has seen them in my nursery has mistaken 

 them for C. atlantica glauca, while two seedlings of C. atlantica from Cooper's Hill 

 are not distinguishable from C. Libani. 



In Cumberland there are two splendid cedars at Eden Hall, the seat of Sir 

 R. Musgrave, Bart., which, according to a paper ^ by Mr. Clark of Carlisle, were 

 supposed to be 270 years old, and one of them measured 86 feet by 22^ feet, the 

 other 86 feet by 21 feet, with a spread of loi feet in diameter. At Alnwick Castle, 

 Northumberland, there is a tree in the wood near the Duchess bridge, measuring 

 69 feet by 7 feet 3 inches. 



The finest avenue of cedars I know in England is that at Dropmore, of which 

 I give an illustration taken from a photograph made in 1903 (Plate 135). This 

 avenue is said " to be composed of Lebanon cedars planted probably about 1 844, 

 and if really so young as this, is a very remarkable instance of the rapid growth of 

 the cedar in this country. There is, however, some doubt as to whether they are 

 Cedars of Lebanon or Algerian cedars, and though I have made inquiries from 

 Mr. Fortescue I cannot ascertain with certainty their origin. 



The best account I know of the Cedar of Lebanon in Scotland is given in the 

 Transactions of the Horticultural Society, vi. 429, in 1826, by Mr. J. Smith, then 

 gardener to the Earl of Hopetoun, and as this shows the rate of growth of the 

 cedar to be, even in that latitude, greater than that of any other tree, I quote it as 

 follows : 



"The extensive pleasure grounds at this place were laid out about the year 

 1740, and in that and the subsequent years a great variety of curious ornamental 

 trees was planted, which are now of considerable size, and in great beauty and 

 perfection : among these are three cedars, which were planted in the year 1 748. 

 The two largest are growing in a favourable deep soil, which although not wet 

 inclines to be moist ; the third is on a gravelly soil, beside a rill of water. Their 

 situation is well sheltered, and about 100 feet above the level of the sea. In 

 the year 1797 the third tree was the largest, and Dr. Walker,* who noted its 

 size at that date, ascribes its superiority to the wetness of its situation. He has 



> Tram. Eng. Art. Soc. 1887, p. 135. Gard. Chron. xxv. 138, fig. 52 (1899). 



' Essays on Natural History , 69 (1808). 



