CONIFERS. 55 



niotlaer earth all that is necessary of the metallic salts, for the pre- 

 servation of her matured wood — be these sulphate of copper, chloride 

 of zinc, sugar of lead, corrosive sublimate, carbonic acid, or creosote ; 

 or, again, all the essentials of enduring and incorruptible resin, and 

 all the indestructible essences of earth oils are known and confected by 

 her ; hence it is one of the most enduring and indestructible of woods, 

 consequently non-carbonaceous. 



It is so capable of receiving a high polish that its highly wrought 

 specimens as much resemble a slab of agate as a plank of timber. 

 This some will say is an encomium ; so say I, but nevertheless a true 

 one ; not founded upon specimens of its lignine obtained from the 

 Deodar grafted upon the Lebanon, nor from cuttings or layers ; nor 

 from pot-bound plants ; but from its native wood, and its yet immature 

 timber produced in this country by young trees in luxuriant health, 

 which, from the seed to the tree, have been raised, nursed, and culti- 

 vated in a natural and common sense way — by proper food and proper 

 treatment for a timber tree. 



The Deodar is thoroughly hardy, sound in constitution, of very rapid 

 growth, particularly after it has established itself ; and not very fastidi- 

 ous as to soil or situation, provided the soil be naturally sweet and 

 healthy, or artificially made so ; for it seems to have no particular 

 favour for geological distinctions, such as clay, loam, sand, peat, or 

 other special descriptions of earth ; nor for gneiss, mica-slate, or clay- 

 slate, granite-stone or dolomatic-stone, sand-stone, or quartz-stone ; but 

 any compound or commixture of earth, and any compound or com- 

 mixture of stones, provided these be in such a state of porosity and 

 pulverosity as to render them available as its food, it will assimilate 

 and economise. From a somewhat extensive practice in the cul- 

 tivation of this cedar, for general planting as a forest or timber tree, 

 I have found that the grand secret of success lies in its being very 

 frequently transplanted while in a young state in the nurseries — thinly 

 sown and thinly grown upon the ground, thereby thoroughly hardened 

 and acclimatized before being finally transplanted to its permanent 

 place in wood or plantation. Plants so prepared may be planted out 

 in any ordinary soils if in a sweet and healthy condition, and in any 

 situation however exposed. This is not the case, however, with plants 

 which may have been propagated by grafts or cuttings, or which may 

 ever have been cultivated under glass, or grown in pots, or in highly- 

 manured land, or over-sheltered corners, or too closely grown together 

 upon the ground, and which have been but seldom transplanted in the 



