CEDAR OF LEBANON. 
125 
given birth to the fine stocks that adorn the parks and gardens of the 
Continent of Europe. 
The heautj of the Cedar of Lebanon is due to the arrangement of its 
branches, which are verticillate with a slight inclination toward the earth, 
and to its thick, dark green foliage, which casts a dense and impervious 
shade. 
It flowers in the month of October : the cones are about 3 inches long 
and 2 broad, and do not arrive at complete maturity before the second 
year. They are grayish, and very hard in consequence of the compactness 
of the scales. To obtain the seeds, of which three-fourths are usually 
barren, the cone is pierced with a gimlet at the base, left to soak two days 
in water, and, after, it is dry, opened by means of a small wooden wedge 
driven into the hole. 
1 This tree is in great request for the fineness of its form; it is not difficult 
in the choice of soils, and develops itself luxuriantly on gravelly lands. 
The young stoek should be transplanted when the circulation begins to 
be renewed, which is indicated by the swelling of the buds ; as much earth 
as possible should be left adhering to the roots, and they should be replaced 
in the ground without delay. When permanently fixed, its branches should 
never be lopped, and the main stem, which constantly inclines toward the 
north, should be carefully preserved. 
PLATE CLIV. 
A branch with a cone of the natural'size,. 
[It would be no difficult task to exhaust several pages with eulogies on 
this tree, which from some cause was almost entirely neglected by our 
American ancestors ; but one or two specimens of much size, having come 
under my observation in the United States. Every person who plants 
should procure one specimen at least even though he may not survive to 
see its perfect majesty and beauty. In England it is common and appears 
no where without impressing the beholder with favorable ideas of the 
planter’s taste. It is perfectly adapted to our climate and young trees 
are to be readily procured in every extensive nursery. This and the 
Deodara, the Douglass Pine, and the Araucaria Imbricata are essential to 
all grounds of even moderate extent. 
M. Laure, an officer of the French marine, who, with the Prince de 
Joinville, visited Mount Lebanon in 1836, says that all but one of the 
sixteen old Cedars mentioned by Belon, in 1550, and by Maundrell, in 
1696, were still alive, although in a decaying state, and that one of the 
healthiest, but perhaps the smallest trunks, measured 36 English feet in 
circumference.] 
