A Famous Avenue of Cedars— By wilhelm Miller, 



New 

 York 



ONE of the "sights" in England is the 

 cedar avenue at Dropmore, the home 

 of J. B. Fortesque, Esq., in Buckingham- 

 shire. This estate is celebrated for its col- 

 lection of conifers, including one of the 

 first specimens of Douglas fir raised in 

 Europe — now a noble tree over one hun- 

 dred feet high and forming a perfect living 

 cone of green! 



But the crowning glory of Dropmore is 

 the avenue of cedars. "Cedar" in Eng- 

 land nearly always means the cedar of 

 Lebanon (Cedrus Libani), which is the 

 most striking feature of the English land- 

 scape and is doubtless the most highly 

 esteemed tree ever brought to England from 

 a foreign land. It is noted for its Bible 

 associations and the great age which speci- 

 mens attain. Some cedars at Warwick 

 Castle are said to have been planted by 

 returned crusaders. The peculiar beauty 

 of the cedar of Lebanon is due to its well- 

 marked platforms, which are rather distant 

 and clothed with short needles. No two 

 platforms are exactly alike, and the general 

 effect is not symmetrical, but mildly pic- 

 turesque, as befits the English landscape. 



Unfortunately, the cedar of Lebanon is 

 the least hardy member of the genus. There 

 are a few fair-sized specimens near Phila- 

 delphia and New York in sheltered situations, 

 but New England could not grow it until 

 Professor Sargent sent a collector to gather 

 seeds of it at the highest altitude in Asia 



Minor, where the cedar is native. The 

 Arnold Arboretum has a few specimens of 

 this supposedly hardy stock which are avail- 

 able for genuine tree lovers. 



I do not care much for " just as good 

 things," as a rule, but the Mt. Atlas cedar 

 (Cedrus Atlantic a) is practically the same 

 thing as the cedar of Lebanon, save that it 

 is a good deal hardier. The popular saying 

 in England is that when both trees get old 

 no one can tell them apart, and this obser- 

 vation is confirmed by the distinguished 

 botanist, Dr. Augustine Henry and the dis- 

 tinguished horticulturist, William Robinson, 

 who has studied both trees in their native 

 countries — Asia Minor and Africa. 



Thus the Mt. Atlas cedar is of intense 

 interest to Americans, for it is practically 

 a hardy cedar of Lebanon, i. e., hardy behind 

 windbreaks or in other sheltered situations 

 as far north as New York. To the senti- 

 mentalist it may be a bit inferior, but so far 

 as inherent beauty is concerned it is superior. 

 Mr. R. Irwin Lynch pointed out to me that 

 the cedar of Lebanon is a bit "dumpy" in 

 outline, while the Mt. Atlas cedar has a 

 definite leader which gives the tree more of 

 a conical outline and sounds a note of aspira- 

 tion — the finishing touch of a perfect tree. 



As people are always asking how to dis- 

 tinguish the two trees in their nursery con- 

 dition, I will give the surest botanical char- 

 acters. The cedar of Lebanon has a nodding 

 leader; the leaves are an inch or more long, 



and they are generally broader than thick. 

 The Mt. Atlas cedar has an upright leader; 

 the leaves are mostly less than an inch long, 

 and they are usually thicker than broad. 



Returning now to the cedar avenue at 

 Dropmore, it is about a quarter of a mile 

 long, eighty years old, and seventy-five feet 

 high. The grass walk between the trees is 

 about sixty feet wide. The trees are about 

 thirty feet apart in the row. The avenue is 

 not straight but curves gently, which adds 

 considerably to its charm, owing to the well- 

 known fascination of a "disappearing curve." 

 I did not verify any of the figures here given. 

 Everything of that kind may be found in the 

 superb work on the trees of England by 

 Elwes and Henry. 



Perhaps the reader can now understand why 

 my enthusiasm rose almost to a fever heat 

 on learning that this avenue is composed of 

 Cedrus Atlantica, var. glauca. Every one who 

 has tried to reproduce English garden effects 

 in America will understand, for we waste 

 about a million dollars a year in such efforts. 

 But here is one of the grandest of all which 

 can doubtless be duplicated in many places 

 as far north as New York and as far south 

 as Georgia. 



I shall never forget the majesty of the 

 cedar avenue at Dropmore, as I saw it with 

 the long, level rays of the setting sun lighting 

 up the platforms of these venerable monarchs. 

 That was a day to be marked with a red 

 cross in the diary of one's life. 



The grandest avenue of cedars in England, at Dropmore, Buckinghamshire. About a quarter of a mile long, eighty years old and seventy-five feet high 



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