72 On the Introduction of the 



We apprehend that no hardy tree yet known has the same 

 high value as the Deodar, as a nurse. The Scotch Pine is so 

 heavy and compact in its foliage that it keeps light off the 

 deciduous trees which grow among it, and offers great ob- 

 struction to the free circulation of air ; doing about as much 

 harm in this way as it effects good by giving shelter from 

 heavy gales. Its poles, too, are so bad that it must always 

 bear a very low price in the timber market. Larch, which 

 is a far better nurse, because its light airy foliage and pyra- 

 midal form offer no hindrance to the action of light and the 

 free circulation of air, and whose poles usually fetch a good 

 price, has the fault of being destitute of leaves in the early 

 spring, and is, moreover, subject to the mysterious and in- 

 curable " rot." On the other hand, the Deodar combines the 

 graceful form and rapid growth of the Larch, with the ever- 

 green character of the Scotch Pine, without the faults of that 

 species ; and we have the evidence of every observer who has 

 seen it in India, that its timber is of excellent quality. As 

 that is a very material point, and since we have occasionally 

 heard it suggested that because the Deodar is nearly related to 

 the Cedar of Lebanon, its timber will probably partake of the 

 bad quality of the latter, it seems worth while quoting the 

 opinions of those who are personally acquainted with it. 

 That no inference can be legitimately drawn from its sup- 

 posed relationship to the Cedar of Lebanon, is sufficiently 

 shewn by the Scotch Pine and the Pinaster. They also are 

 nearly related ; and yet the old timber of the first has great 

 durability and strength, while the latter is at all ages worth- 

 less for any purpose except firewood. A similar but more 

 striking contrast is offered by the Pinaster and Pinus his- 

 panica. species surely more nearly allied than the Deodar and 

 Cedar of Labanon. Now we have the evidence of Captain 

 Widdrington that the latter was largely used in the Spanish 

 navy for deck-planking, a purpose to which Pinaster timber 

 could never be applied. 



The positive testimony of Indian travellers seems conclu- 

 sive as to the durability and excellence of Deodar timber. 

 Baron Charles VonHugel,now Austrian Minister at Florence, 

 a good judge of such matters, saw the tree in abundance, and 



