APROPOS THE CEDAR OF LEBANON 
WILLIAM ROBINSON 
“Gravetye," Sussex, England 
Founder of The Carden, Gardening Illustrated, Flora and Sylva, etc.. Author of “The English Flower Garden ’’ 
Its Behavior Under Cultivation and Some Personal Observations on the Proper Planting of Trees in General 
S READ with great interest in The Garden Magazine 
for December last, an article on the Cedar of Lebanon; 
and because this tree has been planted in our islands 
more perhaps than in any other European country, a 
few words as to its success and certain mistakes made in plant- 
ing may be of use in your land. I am glad to see that the tree is 
“hardy so far north as Boston, and if that be so it cannot be less 
so on the mountains of Virginia and Carolina, and also in Cali- 
fornia. 
The first thing to say is about its extraordinary beauty and 
hardiness in our islands; of its beauty there can be no doubt, and 
so impressed were people with it at first that they took care to 
plant the Cedar well, and even too well! Good preparation is 
not a test of the fitness of a tree for any country. The Northern, 
or Lebanon, Cedar is, I think, one species, the others being 
varieties of it. I went with the late Maurice de Vilmorin to 
Mount Babor to see the so-called Atlantic Cedar in one of its 
native homes and we both felt that it was one in all visible fea- 
tures with the Lebanon Cedars we had at home. The Cyprus 
Cedar, of which 1 have only seen a tree, seemed only a starved 
Cedar of Lebanon, but that can be determined only in Cyprus. 
As to the Atlantic Cedar growing faster than the Lebanon 
Cedar, that is not our experience. The Lebanon Cedar — healthy 
plants from seed — is a rapid growing tree, especially if nursed 
in the best way — that is to say, not allowed to spread about 
in bushy form only. The only real distinction between the 
Cedars is in the Deodar, which is not quite hardy in our region, 
it begins very well, but after a number of years has not the 
splendid health of the Lebanon Cedar. When I went to Mount 
Babor, on the third day of May, the ground being then covered 
with snow, the wild plants were nearly the same as our own and 
the Yew growing among the Cedars, thus showing the sameness 
of our climate with the tops of these mountains rising out of a 
dreary plain. 
Planting and Position 
I N OUR country the Cedar was often planted fully exposed 
and thoroughly well planted so far as it went, but that led to 
its becoming a temple of the winds far more so than the cele- 
brated Temple at Athens. The best way is to plant them as we 
saw them on the mountains, to shelter each other and lose their 
lower branches as they grow up. It is quite exceptional to see 
the Cedar with a trunk like the mast on the ship of some great 
admiral, as it ought to be. If the Cedar is planted in our 
ordinary summer-leafing woodlands, it loses its side branches and 
makes a splendid plume at the top, but the best way to secure 
that is by grouping and planting the tree in the forest way, 
which is rarely done with us. 1 have planted woods in that way 
and with success, the effect of the bold groups being very fine. 
The best way to plant is about five or six feet apart with Larch 
in between, taking care to cut the Larch away in good time. 
In that way the growth of the Cedars is continuous and excellent. 
Soil and Future Growth 
T HE fact that the Cedar grows well in calcareous soils like 
those at Goodwood, and in the good lands of Kent and also 
in the West country, is evidence that it is not, like your 
noble White Pine, a little difficult as to choice of soil. I think 
digging deep holes filled with loam is a mistake, as a test of the 
fitness of the tree for our climate; trenching too, was no gain, 
as it does not add to the staple of the ground at all. If the 
trees are rightly set out and fitted to the soil and conditions the 
roots will soon find any good there is in the soil. In planting 
I often do not even prepare the ground but plant the young trees 
in any bit of a grass field. One fault of planting on lawns in 
exposed places is that in very hot summers, such as sometimes 
come to us, the grass gets all the moisture, whereas if we plant 
in the right way in clean earth instead of in sod, there is no 
grass to absorb the water. 
Timber 
I N OUR country the wood has not yet come into use as timber, 
and indeed there is not enough of ittotestitsvalue. It is a very 
sweet smelling wood. I remember seeing in Carthage some very 
old samples of it in a museum and I believe it had great value 
in past years. On the mountains the natives had built fires 
against the old trees and injured them, and if they wanted a plank 
had cut it from the living tree! The French forester will look 
after that! Whatever the value of the tree in future years, the 
right forest, or group, planting would certainly be the best from 
every point of view, as the ordinary lawn-planted tree is a mass 
of branches into which the force of the tree grows instead of 
going to make a noble bole. 
What is said of the Cedar as growing freely in various soils 
without preparation is not to be taken to mean that it will grow 
anywhere. In getting up the mountains in Algeria I saw a vast 
area of ground which was shaley and poor rock with scarcely any 
soil, in which the Cedar trees grew not much higher than Furze 
bushes. This tree like other trees benefits by a fairly deep and 
friable soil but it should not object to rocky ground, ground 
useless for the plow, but enjoy such ground as the Larch does 
on the Alps of Europe. 
LEBANON CEDAR IN IDAHO 
W HILE on a vacation to Portland, Oregon, in November 1 
chanced upon The Garden Magazine of that month 
which appealed greatly as I am especially interested in green- 
house culture. 
1 certainly enjoyed the article on the Romance of the Cedar 
of Lebanon. In the yard of my sister in Idaho is a Cedar of 
Lebanon grown on the ground from a seed brought from the 
Holy Land by a traveler there many years ago. There were two 
trees but one was killed by accident; the other is now about 
40 ft. high and has a diameter of possibly fourteen inches near 
the base. ,,, . . , 
Mildred Walker, Montana. 
— We are glad to get information about any interesting plant, 
and hope other readers will toll of anything that may come to 
their knowledge. We understand that the Cedar of Lebanon 
referred to is indeed a vigorous tree, and fruiting regularly; well 
developed cones from it are in the collections of the Arnold 
Arboretum Museum. — Ed. 
