old, and from 6 to 9 inches in trees of 100 to 200 years. He gives the average breadth of the annual rings per annum in trees of from twenty to fifty years as from 3½ to 9¼ lines, and in trees from 60 to 200 years as 3¼ lines.
In Gardeners' Chronicle, xii. 204 (1879), S.R. Oliver writes:—"And now about the cedars themselves. The guardian told us that there are exactly 385 trees, large and small, but the smallest must be at least from 50 to 80 years old, and no younger trees are springing up—a fact to which it would be well to draw the attention of the public. At this time of year (28th September) innumerable seeds, which are scattered everywhere beneath the trees from the fallen and expanded cones, are germinating, scattered by the wind; these germinating seeds extend far beyond the actual area covered by the remaining trees; and if it were not that they are trodden under foot, or, what is still more destructive, eaten up by the goats, a few decades of years would soon see a fair sprinkling of healthy young cedars enlarging the borders of the grove. In 100 years the grove would be increased into a wood, and five centuries hence the wood would have become a forest. At present, for want of proper protection against the goats and thoughtless tourists, the present grove is dwindling away, and another generation will exclaim against our supineness in thus allowing a relic of the past to die out prematurely. For a small sum of money a stone wall might be built, enclosing the area of the cedar grove sufficiently well against goats. Future travellers ought to be warned by the guardian to confine their steps to certain paths, so as not to injure the young trees; and stringent precautions should be taken against the disfigurement of the trees now existent, by the cutting of names, tearing down of branches for the cones, etc. It would be easy to build such a wall so as not to be an eyesore or disfigurement, by taking advantage of the sinuosities of the numerous small valleys which permeate the vicinity. I am sure that many travellers would contribute small donations should a subscription list be opened for such a purpose.[1] As the property of the cedars belongs to the Patriarch of the Maronites, by name Butross Massaad, who resides by the Dog river, not far from Beyrout, it would be necessary to obtain his co-operation, and I hope, through the aid of the Consul-General for Syria, to have an interview with him on the subject before I leave the neighbourhood. Most of the single trees of antique growth average 20 to 30 feet in girth at about 6 feet from the ground, but the enormous fathers of the forest are in reality a congeries of two, three, or even more trees which have grown so closely together as to coalesce and actually form a single trunk. Among the younger specimens twin and triplet trees are rather the rule than the exception, and this will explain such a girth as Dr. Wartabet measured round the largest tree on the slope north of the Maronite chapel overlooking the ravine, viz. 48 feet. This tree is by no means one of the oldest, but is at its full growth of maturity, and in vigorous health. The hoar, gaunt, and withered trunks of greatest antiquity are around the usual camping ground at the S.E. corner of the group."
Dr. A.E. Day wrote to me as follows on their actual condition more recently, in a letter dated Beirut, Syria, 9th November 1903:—
- ↑ Rustem Pasha informed Sir W. Thiselton Dyer that he had built a wall to protect the young cedars from grazing, but at a later period this was broken down.
