382 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



have been given of the longevity of these trees, but these 

 should be received with some little reserve. 



It is stated in a small work on useful and ornamental 

 planting, that at Highclere Park, in Hampshire, the Earl 

 of Caernarvon planted seeds in 1739, from a cone gathered 

 upon Mount Lebanon. Only two germinated, which, 

 after being planted out, remained rather stunted, and 

 without showing any signs of vigour. In 1767 they were 

 transplanted into a poor soil, in a bleak situation, being 

 at that time 17 inches in girth at one foot from the 

 ground, and from that date their growth was considered 

 to be satisfactory. 



No. I in 48 years measured 35 inches in girth at 3 feet from the ground. 



73 .. 82 „ 3 



93 .. "I .. 3 



No. 2 in 48 , , 22 , , 3 



73 .. 72 .. 3 



93 .. 102 .. 3 



These two Cedar trees, therefore, when 93 years old, 

 measured respectively about 37 and 34 inches in diameter, 

 and were making wood at the rate of i inch of diameter 

 in about 2J^ years. If this rate of growth is applied to 

 the largest of the trees which Maundrell mentions that 

 he saw upon Mount Lebanon, it would show them to be 

 only about 350, or, at the most, 400 years old; and it is 

 probable that this is somewhere about the limit of age 

 which the Cedar trees attain, and not 3,000 years, as has 

 been asserted.. 



We know very little of the quality of the timber of 

 the Cedar of Lebanon ; it is too scarce to find its way 

 in any quantity into the markets of this country. 



The wood is reddish-brown in colour, open and 

 straight in the grain, very porous, soft and spongy in 

 the centre, of light weight, and rather brittle ; large and 



