483 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I 
made to afford cuttings, and then got into rattling, robust 
plants before the end of May. I rather think we ex¬ 
ceeded the high temperature mentioned by Mr. Beaton, 
the other week, for propagating soft-wooded plants in 
spring. At any rate, I had a row and some beds that 
were the admiration of everyone. The plants, on an 
average, ranged from fifteen to eighteen inches in 
height, were planted from eighteen inches to two feet 
apart, and were a dense mass of purple colour. So close 
and level were the flowers, for about ten weeks there was 
scarcely an opening left in which you could insert a couple 
of fingers. Many, on seeing them at a little distance, 
exclaimed, “whole beds of Cockscombs.” They were, 
unquestionably, the finest feature in the gardens here, 
either in beds contrasted with yellow, or flanked with 
yellow in the row. I give them this prominent notice 
tor three reasons: First.—It is a general idea that 
Dahlias, when extra stimulated for propagating, and 
being often and often cut in, do not do much good for 
that season. Be this as it may, these dwarf Zelindas 
were over stimulated, and no mistake, and every plant 
was smothered with bloom. Mr. Gardener would not 1 
believe scarcely that what he saw were the produce of 
what he sent. There is no difficulty in getting into a 
stock, therefore. Secondly—Many applications have been 
made for roots, which I have, so far, satisfied ; but there 
are many more which, with a due regard to a home 
supply, I have been unable to meet; and several in¬ 
quiries have been made by nurserymen and ladies as to 
where it is to be obtained for sale; and as I know it was 
mentioned in The Cottage Gardener years ago, I 
thought some of the readers might have a stock to dis¬ 
pose of. And thirdly—To draw attention to dwarf early- 
flowering Dahlias, as a new feature for masses in the 
flower-garden. 
No doubt, just as in the case of the Zelinda, there are 
many that have been neglected, because they were never 
tried as a mass. In addition to the Scarlet Zelinda, there 
is a nice dwarf, Orange-variegated variety, Miss We gland, 
from two to two-and-a-lmlf feet in height, and in rather 
poor soil, was not above twenty inches last year, that 
would make no bad neighbour for the Red and Purple 
Zelindas, but with me it has been rather a mift’y thing, 
and seems the only desirable, this season, in the Dahlia 
way, that will move the wrong way. We had a small 
flowering variety, nearly of the same colour, last season, 
(Mrs. Ldbouchere), which might do for a taller bed. Our 
plant was from two-and-a-half to three feet high, and 
smothered with small flowers. 1 have mentioned that 
the flower of the Zelinda is such that a florist would i 
never look at, but the habit might be retained, and the j 
form be improved. I tried a little hybridising last summer, 
but did not succeed in getting a single seed. So compact 
and stubby were the plants, that they were almost the 
only plants in the garden that had neither pegging or 
supporting of any Tdnd. R. Fish. 
THE CEDRUS DEODORA versus THE 
CEDRUS LEBANI. 
A considerable amount of botanical acumen has 
been used pro and con to find out whether these two 
remarkable trees are or are not the same species; some 
asserting that the Deodar is only a variety of the, in 
this country, more anciently known Cedar of Lebanon. 
I shall not enter into the merits or demerits of the 
arguments that have been advanced by the advocates 
of either opinion, sufficient for me, and, I opine, for all 
the readers of The Cottage Gardener, is the fact that 
no one, even the most superficial observer, will ever 
mistake the one for the other; and another no less 
weighty fact is, that seedlings of each tree always come 
March 23. | 
true, whereas, if the Deodar was only a variety of the 
Cedar ot Lebanon, seedlings of the former would some¬ 
times revert to a likeness of the original—a circumstance 
that 1 never could learn has even in the slightest degree 
been observed. 
It is not, however, of such great importance, ex¬ 
cepting in a botanical point of view, whether the one is 
a variety ot the other or not. The grand points to be 
considered are, does the wood or timber of the Deodar- 
last long?—Is it adapted for use, and is the tree hardy 
enough to bear the coldest of our winters?—and, lastly, 
will the wood be of as good quality grown here as it is 
said to be in its native country ? 
As the Commissioners of Woods and Forests are 
about to plant several thousands of the Deodar in our 
national forests, these questions are of great interest 
and importance to the people of Great Britain. 
At the recent Horticultural Society’s Meeting in 
Regent-street, both the Chairman (Dr. Royle), who 
resided for several years in India, and Dr. Lindley, 
spoke for a considerable time on this very subject, and 
as our readers are aware, thanks to my good friend, Mr. 
Beaton, that I was there, and he said “ taking notes,” I 
will try to give the substance of wbat fell from these 
two learned and scientific gentlemen, first stating, that 
most writers that have travelled in the parts of the 
Himalaya Mountains where the Deodars form extensive 
woods say that the timber is more highly valued than 
that ot any other tree, and that well authenticated facts 
prove that timber from this tree has been used for the 
construction of temples built several hundred years and 
still remains good, and that the grain of the timber is 
close, compact, and easily worked, and is capable of a 
very high polish. 
My second question—Is the tree hardy ? is easily 
answered satisfactorily. We here have had it in culti¬ 
vation more than twenty years in various situations, 
and it has passed through the ordeal almost unscathed. 
The last question is more difficult, because it is a 
question ot time, and can only be proved by analogy. 
Dr. Royle stated to the meeting that “ the Deodar grows 
in regions from 5000 to 12,000 feet above the level of 
the sea, in which regions the weather is often very cold 
and varied, just such a climate as the hills of Derby¬ 
shire oi- the highlands of Scotland. Now, if the timber 
in the Himalayas in such a climate is excellent, why 
should it not be so in a similar climate in this country ? 
The learned doctor gave it as his decided opinion that 
it would, and his opinion, he said, was confirmed in a 
letter he read from Mr. Wilson Saunders, of Lloyds, 
who stated that the wood of the Deodar was superior to 1 
the American Larch. The Doctor farther stated, that it 
had been argued that because the wood of the Cedar of 
Lebanon, grown in this country, is not so good as 
that grown in Palestine, that, therefore, the wood of 
the Deodar would also be inferior. This argument he 
considered to be erroneous, because ancient descriptions 
of the excellence of the timber of the Cedar of that 
country did not necessarily refer to it, but might refer 
to other cone-bearing timber trees. 
Dr. Lindley judiciously followed up the remarks 
of the Chairman, and showed examples of the Cedar of 
Lebanon grown in this country, and pointed out some 
differences in the wood to prove the two trees were of a 
different species. The wood of the Lebanon Cedar is 
inodorous, whilst the wood of the Deodar is highly 
fragrant; a fact that any one in the room might easily 
prove by smelling at the two woods, for there was in 
the room a splendid specimen of the Deodar timber, a 
plank or board imported by the East India Company, 
which measured four feet six inches across, and eighteen 
feet long, and very nearly five inches thick. I could 
smell the odour pf this wood very perceptibly, and the 
