destroyed so many of this tree in the north. The tree at Abercairney is remarkably weeping in habit, and measured, in 1904, 51 feet high b feet 8 inches in girth, The best that we know in this county is perhaps one at Murthly, which is older and bore cones in 1892. It grows well at Gordon Castle, where there is a tree about 50 feet high, and as far north as Dunrobin in Sutherlandshire. At Conan House, Ross-shire, there is a healthy tree 47 feet by 9 feet 9 inches. At Leny, near Callander, there is a very old-looking but rather stunted deodar, which may have been introduced by the distinguished Indian naturalist Buchanan Hamilton, grandfather of the present owner, but when I saw it in 1906 it was only about 45 feet by 7 feet.
At Smeaton-Hepburn, a tree[1] planted in 1841, when it was 2½ feet high, measured in 1902, 55 feet in height and 6 feet 7 inches in girth.
The finest deodar in Ireland is growing at Fota, Co. Cork, and measured, in 1903, 84 feet high by 7 feet 2 inches in girth. At Coollattin, Wicklow, there are two trees, one of which measured, in 1906, 53 feet by 6 feet 10 inches. At Hamwood, Co. Meath, a tree, supposed to have been planted in 1844, was 74 feet by 7½ feet in 1905. At Mount Shannon, Limerick, there is a tree 66 feet by 8 feet 5 in. in 1905. At Emo Park, Portarlington, a tree measured, in 1907, 61 feet by 7 feet 4 inches, and was thriving; but in the dry climate of Queen's County, the deodar as a rule is not a satisfactory tree.
Timber
The timber is the most important of any in North-Western India, and supplies a large quantity of railway sleepers, bridge, and building timber. Gamble says that it is rather brittle to work, and does not take paint or varnish well. It has also a very strong odour which, although pleasant in the open air, is not so in a room. It is extremely durable, probably with cypress (Cupressus torulosa) the most durable of Himalayan woods. Stewart mentions the pillars of the Shah Hamadin Mosque at Srinagar in Kashmir, which date from 1426 a.d., and were quite sound when he wrote. Its grain is so straight that the logs can be split into boards, which are afterwards trimmed with an adze; and shingles for roofing, according to Webber,[2] stand the changes of climate for centuries without any sign of decay.
The weight of well-seasoned dry wood of average growth is about 35 pounds per cubic foot, branch wood being very much heavier and more full of resin.
Oil is extracted from it by distillation, which is a dark brown, strong, and unpleasant smelling fluid, said to be a good antiseptic, and serves to coat the inflated skins known as "mussucks" used for crossing the Himalayan rivers. (H.J.E.)
