CONIFER.^:. 



83 



inclined to think will be temporary and transient ; and that its intro- 

 duction into and cultivation in this country will be the means of 

 imparting to it an invigorated constitution and a renewed term of 

 existence. It is of very regular and rapid growth; and does well in 

 any ordinary description of soil ; but prefers rather moist to very dry 

 ones, in which latter it will not succeed ; it luxuriates in a good, deep, 

 moist, loamy soil and a sheltered situation. 



Its timber is inferior to many of its congeners : with the wood of 

 such a tree as the Deodar it cannot be compared ; to that of the 

 Douglas Fir it is vastly inferior ; and is, even, far surpassed by that of 

 the Corsican Pine : for it is short-fibred, light and soft, porous and 

 brittle, non -resinous and non-fragrant, particularly when matured ; and 

 it is not durable, nor free from incipient decay or wood- vermin : yet, 

 notwithstanding these defects, I incline to the belief that it will 

 eventually take rank as a third-class timber tree in the British Isles, 

 since its wood, when compared with that of many of the soft, light, 

 and brittle-wooded trees we now cultivate for their timber, will bear a 

 very favourable comparison ; and, though I have no data, yet, I think 

 that the quality of its ligneous tissue, grown and matured in this 

 country, will prove better and more durable than that it produces in 

 the richer soils and more congenial climate of California : moreover, 

 its large dimensions afford strong presumptive evidence that it will 

 produce at least quantity if not quality. For the purpose of testing its 

 capabilities as a timber tree, adapted for general planting as such in 

 these latitudes, and for affording the next or succeeding generation the 

 materials for proving its value as a British timber tree, we have for 

 some years past been planting it out in limited quantities amongst 

 other common forest trees : and moat of these young trees are now 

 beginning to develop themselves, and are rivalling the Larch, Spruce, 

 and Silver Firs, and most of the common Pines, in their luxuriance 

 and rate of growth. 



As an ornamental tree it takes equal rank with Araucaria Imhricata^ 

 Cedrus Deodcu-a, and Picea Nohilis ; and no collection of trees can be 

 considered complete without it. 



Although somewhat related to the S.D. Cupressinem, it is never- 

 theless generically and specifically distinct from this and all the other 

 genera and species of Pinacese ; and is a noble representative or pro- 

 totype of my S.D. IT, Gigantahies, It has at present no known 

 quasi-species, and but few varieties; but it is beginning to show a 

 sportive tendency, and, no doubt, we will soon have elegant issimas or 



G 2 



