CEDAR OF LEBANON. 537 



vided the former be not too dry, and its roots can have 

 free access to water ; for it has always been observed to 

 flourish best when planted within a short distance of the 

 margins of ponds, or the brinks of running streams. In the 

 neighbourhood of London, Loudon tells us, it has attained, 

 the largest size in a deep sandy though not a poor soil, 

 as at Syon, Whitton, and Pains Hill, and that at Whitton, 

 the roots of the largest and highest tree are within reach 

 of water. Sir T. D. Lauder also remarks, that " the Cedars 

 of Lebanon grow in a wet mountain soil, and are exposed 

 to as much frost and snow as occurs in most parts of Scot- 

 land. 1 '' We, therefore, never find the Cedar injured by 

 frosts in this country ; but when placed in gardens, and 

 in a dry situation, both with regard to soil and climate, 

 it becomes a mere bush, compared to that lofty tree which 

 it naturally ought to be. In the lowlands of Scotland,'" 

 he adds, " the Cedar can scarcely be placed too wet, and 

 will succeed better in a wet mountain soil in a Highland 

 wood, than in the best garden in the country." So far as 

 our own observations have been directed towards this tree, 

 we fully concur in opinion as to its preference of a springy 

 moist situation to one that is dry, and we have little doubt 

 but that, in hardihood of constitution, it is nearly upon an 

 equality with the Larch, and would succed in mountainous 

 districts at altitudes little inferior to that tree. 



The seeds of the Cedar are obtained from the cones, 

 which are not ripe till the autumn of the third year after 

 their first appearance upon the tree ; they are most readily 

 extracted by steeping the cones, for a day or two, in water, 

 and then splitting them through their axis by means of a 

 sharp conical iron spike, which allows the scales to be 

 opened and the seeds to fall out. These should be sown 

 without delay in light rich soil, and covered to the depth 



