38 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



arrival in England. Probably it was contemporary 

 in this country with the ilex. There is a popular 

 impression, though a greatly exaggerated one, that 

 the cedar of Lebanon is both difficult to grow and 

 out of ordinary reach on account of the untold 

 number of years it takes to come to maturity. It 

 may be because no tree carries a more venerable 

 mien or gives a greater sense of mystery by the 

 vague depth of its shadows, that it has taken to 

 itself this character. In reality it is not remarkable 

 for either of these traits. After it has passed the 

 early stages of its seedling life, during which, like 

 most other foreign trees, it does require some care, 

 it becomes strong and hardy, well able to make 

 shift for itself, and not unusually slow in growth. 

 It is true that it has the character of not coming to 

 the fruiting age till about fifty years old but even 

 if this be so, it arrives at great perfection of beauty 

 long before it reaches maturity. A tree in the 

 Chelsea physic garden, supposed to have been one 

 of the first planted in England, produced cones 

 in 1766, and from the seed of these cones, which 

 were distributed far and wide, it is thought that 

 a large proportion of the full-grown cedars now in 

 the country have sprung. If so, a great many of 

 them must have been raised in Essex, where, in 

 some districts, the number of fine cedars is very 

 noteworthy. Perhaps in this twentieth century a 

 new development will encourage the planting of this 

 magnificent tree in other ways than as an isolated 

 specimen on a lawn a plan which has hitherto 

 been almost universally adopted. It might then, 

 in time, take the place in English wood-scenery 



