LXXVII. CONI FERiE : CE DRUS. 1059 



roots are within reach of water. The cones, which, as ah'eady observed, are 

 not ripe till the autumn of the third year, will keep five or six years after 

 being taken from the tree, so that there is never any risk of getting; seeds too 

 old to vegetate, in purchasing the cones that are imported from the Levant. 

 If cones produced in Britain are kept a year after being gathered, they may be 

 opened with i;reater ease than when recently taken from the tree. To facili- 

 tate the operation of extracting the seeds, the cones may be steeped in water 

 for a day or two, and afterwards split by driving a sharp conical iron spike 

 through their axis. The scales being then opened with the hand, the seeds 

 readily come out. The seeds ought to be committed to the soil immediately 

 after being taken out of the cones ; more especially if the latter have been 

 steeped, because in that case the seeds have swelled, and might be injured, if 

 left to shrink. If the seeds are sown in March or April, they will come up in 

 a month or six weeks; and still sooner if they have been steeped. Like the 

 other Ahwtmss, they should be sown in light rich soil, and covered thinly. 

 Sang recommends the covering to be ^ in. deep ; and this depth may be di- 

 minished or increased, according to the lightness or heaviness of the soil. The 

 seeds may be either sown in beds in the open garden, or in large flat pots or 

 boxes ; but the latter is the more convenient mode, as it admits of preserving 

 the whole of the roots in transplanting. The plants rise 3 or 4 inches high 

 the first year, with scarcely any taproots ; but these increase afterwards, as 

 the plants advance in size. At the end of the first year, the seedlings may be 

 transplanted into nursery lines, or, what is more convenient, into small pots ; 



i and, in commercial nurseries, they should every year be shifted into pots a size 



larger, till they are sold. In private nurseries, where the plants are not likely 

 to be sent to any distance, they maj' be planted in the free soil in nursery lines, 

 like the pinaster and other of the more rare pines and firs ; and, when they 



I are removed to their final situation, their roots may be protected from the air, 



by immersing them in mud or puddle. In the nursery culture of the cedar, 



\ care must be taken not to injure the leading shoot, which is said not to 



be readily renewed when broken off. In general, it is advisable to tie the 

 leader to a stake, till the plants are placed where they are finally to remain ; 

 after which they may be left to themselves. In their progress from young 

 plants to full-grown trees they require very little pruning, and suffer severely 



when large branches are cut off. 



f 2, C. Deoda^ra Roxb. The Deodara, or Indian, Cedar. 



Identification. Roxb. Fl Ind. ined. ; Laws. Man., p. 381. 

 ' Synunymes. Plnus Dcoddra Lamb. Pin. ed. 2. t. 52. ; ^"bies Deoddra Lindl. in Penn. Cyc. ; De- 



vad.ira, or Deodara, Hindostanee ; tlie sacred Indian Fir. 



Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., t. 52. ; our fig. 1977. to our usual scale ; axii figs. 1975. and 1976. of 

 ' the natural size. 



I Spec. Char., ^-c. Leaves fascicled, evergreen, acute, triquetrous, rigid. Cones 



I twin, oval, obtuse, erect; scales adpressed. (Lamb.) Cones from 4iin. to 



; 5 in. long; and from 3i in. to 3f in. broad. Seed, with the wing, nearly 



' 1^ in. long; scale about the same length, and 2 in. broad. A large ever- 

 green tree. Nepal and Indo-Tataric mountains, at 10,000 or 12,000 feet 



! above the level of the sea. Height 50 ft. to 100 ft., rarely 150 ft. Intro- 



j duced in 1822, and apparently as hardy as the cedar of Lebanon, from which 



; it is readily distinguished at a distance by its general aspect being compara- 



! tively whiter. 



j Varieties. Two varieties, or perhaps nearly allied species, called the Shinlik 



I and Christa rooroo, are mentioned by Moorcroft as natives of the forests of 



Ladakh. (Lindl. in Penn. Cyc.) 



The branches are ample and spreading ; ascending a little near the trunk of 



the tree, but drooping at the extremities. The wood is compact, of a yel- 



I lowish white, and strongly impregnated with resin. The bark is greyish, and, 



I on the young branches, covered with a glaucous bloom. The leaves are either 



solitary or tufted, and are very numerous ; they are larger than those of C. 



Libani, and of a bluish but dark green, covered with a light glaucous bloom. 



3 Y 2 



