410 



THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. 



The Cedar first produced cones in England in 

 the Chelsea Garden about 1766, since which time, 

 vast numbers of trees have been raised both 

 from native as well as foreign cones. 



The Cedars of Lebanon are frequently men- 

 tioned in the Sacred Volume, and from their 

 majestic growth are made an emblem of regal 

 state, and so of the prosperity of the kingdom 

 typified. They were formerly very abundant, 

 but being much sought after for their timber, 

 which was considered imperishable, their number 

 is now greatly diminished. It was used in great 

 quantities in the building of the Temple and 

 Solomon's Palace at Jerusalem, and by the 

 Tyrians the masts of ships v/ere made of Cedar. 

 The needle-shaped leaves are shorter than those 

 of the Scotch Fir, and grow in bunches of more 

 than twenty, like those of the Larch, but they 

 are of a firmer texture, and are not deciduous. 

 The cones, which stand erect, and in their young 

 state are very conspicuous, are of a bright green 

 colour and an oval shape ; they adhere firmly 

 to the branches, which are covered with a greyish 

 brown bark. The horizontal branches, which are 

 very large in proportion to the size of the trunk, 

 are arranged in distinct layers or stages, and form 

 a broadly pyramidal head. The extremities of 

 the lower branches generally droop so as almost 

 to touch the ground, when the tree stands alone ; 

 but if planted in masses, it bears a clean straight 

 trunk, crowned by a depressed head. The beauty 

 of the tree consists in the strength and elegant 

 symmetry of its widely spreading branches. The 

 resin which exudes from the stem and cones, 

 is said to be as soft as balsam ; the smell is very 



