CHAP. cxin. CONI'FEH.E. CK/DKUS. 2431 



rivers arc such trees floated down, nor do there exist anywhere else such 

 facilities for the construction of vessels." (Travels, &c., vol. i. p. 50.) Tie 

 cellars which Victor Jacqueniont found on the Himalayas and on tfie mountains 

 of Cashmere, at 5360 ft. above the level of the sea (see Co-nexp., &c., vol. i. 

 p. 291., and vol. ii. p. 74-.), were, doubtless, this species, and not cedars of 

 Lebanon. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Cedrus Dcodara possesses, as we 

 have before observed (p. 2429.), all the qualities attributed by the ancients to 

 that of C. Libani. It is very compact and resinous, and has a fine, fragrant, 

 refreshing smell, like that felt when walking in pine groves towards evening, or 

 in moist weather ; and very different from that of the cedar of Lebanon. Its 

 wood has a remarkably fine close grain, capable of receiving a very high polish ; 

 so much so, indeed, that a table formed of the section of a trunk nearly 4ft. 

 in diameter, sent by Dr. Wallich to Mr. Lambert, has been compared to a 

 slab of brown agate. Dr. Royle informs us that the wood is particularly 

 valued for its durability, and is much used in the construction of Himalayan 

 houses. In Cashmere, according to Mr. Moorcroft (Lamb. Pin., ii. p. 94.), 

 it is used for buildings, both public and private, and for bridges and boats. 

 Strips of it are also employed for candles. Dr. Lindley states that" Mr. Moor- 

 croft procured specimens from the starlings of the Zein ool Kuddul bridge in 

 Ladakh, where it had been exposed to the water for nearly 400 years." (Penn. 

 Cyc.) The following extract is from a letter from the Honourable W. Leslie 

 Melville to the secretary of the Highland Society of Scotland, dated Calcutta, 

 January, 1836, and printed in Lawson's Manual: " The timber is employed 

 for roofing, and other purposes ; and, if sheltered from the weather, is very 

 durable. It is found perfectly sound in the roofs of temples which cannot 

 have stood less than 200 years. For out of door purposes, I understand it 

 requires paint, which, however, perfectly 7 protects it." 



The turpentine from this tree, Dr. Royle informs us, is very fluid, and, 

 though coarse, is much valued in Upper India for medical purposes; the 

 leaves and twigs are also used by the natives in medicine; and tar and pitch 

 are procured from the trunk. 



In England, the specimens of it are at present small ; but the feathery 

 lightness of its spreading branches, and the beautiful glaucous hue of its 

 leaves, render it, even when young, one of the most ornamental of the coni- 

 ferous trees; and all the travellers who have seen it full grown agree that it 

 unites an extraordinary degree of majesty and grandeur with its beauty. The 

 tree thrives in every part of Great Britain where it has been tried, even as far 

 north as Aberdeen ; where, as in many other places, it is found hardier than 

 the cedar of Lebanon. It is readily propagated by seeds, which preserve their 

 vitality when imported in the cones, but scarcely otherwise. It also grows 

 freely by cuttings, which appear to make as handsome free-growing plants as 

 those raised from seed. It has been inarched on the larch ; but the latter tree- 

 being deciduous, it may be doubtful whether plants so propagated will attain 

 a large size, and be of great duration. It has been grafted in the wed^e 

 manner on the common cedar, in considerable numbers, by Mr. Barrow, gar- 

 dent r to the Earl of Harrington, at Elvaston Castle. Mr. Barrow has given 

 a detailed account of his process, and of the success which attended it in 

 Gard. Mag., vol. xiv. p. 80. The nursery culture, and the soil and situa- 

 tion in which it is to be finally planted, may be considered in all respects the 

 same as those of the common cedar. 



Statistics. In the neighbourhood of London, in the Horticultural Society's Garden, 7 years 

 planted, it is 8ft. high ; at Kew, it is 3 ft. high ; at the Duke of Devonshire's villa, at Chiswick, it 

 is 3 ft. high ; at Hendon Rectory, itisSft. 6in. high. In Bedfordshire, at Flitwick, it is .' ft. h^h. 

 In Berkshire, at Dropmore, it is upwards of 6ft. high : it was sown in March, 1831, and planted out 

 in the autumn of the same year. In Derbyshire, at Chatsworth, it is 3ft. Sin. high. In Devon- 

 - 



shire, at Hic-ton, it is 4ft. high. In Kent, at Kedleaf, it is lift. high. In Wiltshire, at Boyton, it is 

 3ft. high. In Scotland, in the Experimental Garden, it is 4ft. (5 in. hiph. In Aberdeenshire, in 

 Hoy's Nursery, it is 1 ft.fi in.high. In Fileshire, at Lahill, it is ,3ft. high In Ireland, there are plants 

 in the Trinity College Botanic Garden, in the Glasnevin Garden, and at Tiltour, near Mount Ken- 

 nedy. In Paris, there are plants in the nursery of M. Daniell, on the Boulevard Mont Parnas.se 

 In Germany, it is in the Berlin Botanic Garden, and in the Flo'theck Nurseries. 



