venience of sale, is rather apt to die. I am not aware that it has ever yet been tried in quantity under forest conditions; but, so far as I have seen, it is not subject to insect or fungoid diseases which attack and kill the deodar.[1]
Many of the grafted trees of the glaucous variety, which are usually sold by nurserymen, are one-sided and unsightly objects, for a good many years after planting at any rate; and though it is claimed by some that grafting, if properly done, does not permanently disfigure the tree, yet I would always prefer seedlings. Even if not quite so glaucous in colour as the best of the others, a certain number of this tint will generally appear among them.
The date at which the Algerian cedar was first introduced to this country is somewhat uncertain; but it must have been subsequent to 1844, and if any older ones exist they cannot be recognised with certainty. Several trees appearing older than this have been supposed to be African, on account of their habit and cones, but there is nothing on record to prove it.
According to Ravenscroft, the oldest of which we have an exact record were raised at Eastnor Castle in 1845, from cones gathered by Lord Somers himself at Téniet-el-H4ad. In December 1860 the tallest of these was 18½ feet; in December 1866, 31 feet. When I measured it in 1906, it was 77 feet by 8 feet 1 inch.
Remarkable Trees
The tallest tree that I have measured in England is at Linton Park, Kent, and is a glaucous tree, which, from its shape, seems to be grafted, though there is no evidence of this. It was 80 feet high in 1902.
The largest recorded at the Conifer Conference in 1891 was at Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire,! the seat of the Marquess of Normanby. It was then 66 feet by 5 feet 10 inches. Mr. Corbett informs me that it is now 72 feet by 8 feet 4 inches.
On Ashampstead Common, Berks, there is a handsome and well-grown tree which has grown up in a semi-wild condition among other trees, and which was 63 feet by 64 feet when I last saw it in 1907 (Plate 137).
At Ashridge there are several fine glaucous trees, raised from seeds, which were brought. by Earl Brownlow, in 1862, from Téniet-el-Hâad; the best of them already measures 58 feet by 6 feet. At Merton Hall, Norfolk, there is a very well-shaped tree measuring 60 feet by 6 feet.
At Bicton there is a fine tree measuring 68 feet by 7 feet 6 inches. At Coldrinick, in Cornwall, there is a well-shaped tree which, in 1905, was 64 feet by 5½ feet. At Heanton Satchville, North Devon, I saw a healthy young tree ina shrubbery, which was clear of branches to 20 feet up, and though 48 feet high, was only 2 feet 7 inches in girth, showing the ability of this cedar to thrive without much space, even in a climate so much damper and cooler than that of Algeria.
At Tortworth there is a cedar about 50 feet high with very short leaves, and remarkably fastigiate habit, which seems to belong to the variety named fastigiata.
In Scotland I have not seen any so large as in England; but the tree grows
- ↑ A tree at Grimston, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, reported in 1900 to be 70 feet high and 13 feet in girth at three feet from the ground, which was said to be sixty-five years old, is probably a Lebanon cedar. Cf. Gard. Chron. xxviii. 210 (1900).
