538 conifek^e. 



of about half an inch, either in the open ground, or what 

 is preferable, in large boxes, which ensures the preserva- 

 tion of all the roots in transplanting the seedlings. In 

 commercial nurseries, from whence the plants, when sold, 

 have frequently to be sent to considerable distances, it is 

 best to transplant the seedlings into small pots, as they 

 carry better, and the roots are preserved entire, so that 

 little risk of failure is incurred when placed in their per- 

 manent stations ; but in private nurseries they may be 

 run into lines in the Open soil, in the same manner as the 

 larch and other species of the abietince. Great care should 

 be taken, during the nursery culture, to preserve the lead- 

 ing shoot, as plants are often a long time in recovering 

 or renewing it when broken off. When planted for orna- 

 ment, the Cedar should have sufficient room for the free 

 expansion of its branches, as upon the retention of these 

 the beauty and picturesque form of the tree mainly de- 

 pend, and as has been recommended in the case of other 

 evergreen conifers, the pruning knife should rarely, if 

 ever, be applied to a living branch. 



Of recorded British trees, the most remarkable appears 

 to have been the Hillingdon Cedar, mentioned by Gilpin 

 as the finest specimen he had seen in England, but whose 

 dimensions are now surpassed by many Cedars in vari- 

 ous parts of the kingdom. The Hendon, the Farley, 

 and the Hammersmith Cedars were also trees of great 

 size, and remarkable in their day. Of the oldest existing 

 trees, are the two still remaining of the four originally 

 planted in the Chelsea Garden, and the Cedar at Enfield. 

 The highest Cedar in England is supposed to be one at 

 Strathfieldsaye, Avhich measures above one hundred and 

 eight feet high, and the largest is said to be one at 

 Syon, the height of which, in 1837, was seventy-two feet, 



