246 THE CYPRESS. 
There are many remarkable instances recorded of the dura- 
bility of cypress timber. The doors of St. Peter’s, at Rome, 
the predecessor of the present edifice, which had lasted from 
the time of Constantine to that of Eugene Iv. (above 1100 
years), were of cypress, and were found, when removed by 
Pope Eugene, to be perfectly sound. Pliny says, respecting 
the durability of this wood, that the statue of Jupiter in the 
Capitol, formed of cypress, had existed above 600 years, 
without showing the slightest symptom of decay ; and that 
the cypress doors of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, when 
400 years old, had the appearance of being quite new. The 
timber of this tree is supposed to be the “gopher wood” of 
which Noah’s Ark was constructed. It possesses all the 
qualities of durability usually ascribed to the cedar; and 
some believe that the cedar-wood of Biblical times must have 
been the timber of this tree. It is not found of sufficient 
size and numbers for the wood to be generally known in this 
country, but it is in common use in Candia and Malta, and itis 
always employed as the inner coffin or shell for burying Popes. 
The cones of the tree become ripe early in spring, and they 
are opened by a heat of 100° Fahr., and the seeds fall out. 
They should be sown in April, in early, friable soil; the 
plants will appear before the end of May. They should be 
protected from the severity of the first winter; for unless 
they are grown in very dry ground, and have the benefit of a 
warm and ripening summer, their tops do not become sufii- 
ciently matured to withstand frost. After the first year’s 
growth is completed, the young plants should be transplanted 
into nursery lines; and that their roots may be kept bushy 
and fibrous, they must be disturbed or removed every second 
year until the plants are finally situated. An excellent 
method in practice in nurseries, is to insert the plants into 
pots at the age of one or two years, and to shift them into 
larger pots, according to their growth. The cypress requires 
a situation moderately sheltered, and does not admit of a 
great elevation. Unfavourable seasons of late, particularly 
the severe winter of 1860-61, have rendered this a very 
scarce tree throughout Britain, more especially in low, moist 
