The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland/Volume 1/Cryptomeria

by Henry John Elwes and Augustine Henry

 

CRYPTOMERIA

 

Cryptomeria, D. Don, Trans. Linn. Soc. xviii. 166 (1839); Bentham et Hooker, Gen. Pl. iii. 428 (1880); Masters, Jour. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxx. 23 (1893).

 

A genus with one very variable living species, in Eastern Asia, belonging to the tribe Taxodineæ of the order Coniferæ.

A tree with evergreen leaves spirally arranged and decurrent on the shoots, which are only of one kind. Flowers monœcious. Male flowers: spike-like, sessile in the axils of the uppermost leaves of the branchlets, composed of numerous imbricated stamens, which have a pointed connective, and 3 to 5 pollen sacs. Female flowers: globular cones solitary and sessile on the tips of branchlets near to those on which the staminate flowers occur, composed of numerous bracts with free recurved pointed ends spirally imbricated in a continuous series with the leaves. Ovular scales, each bearing 3 to 5 ovules, united with the bracts for three-fourths of their length and dilated into roundish crenately-lobed extremities. Fruit: a globular brownish cone, ripening in the first year, but persisting on the tree after the escape of the seeds by the gaping apart of the scales till the next year or longer; scales about 20 to 30 in number, peltate, stalked with a disc dilated externally, which shows on its outer surface the recurved point of the bract (incorporated with the scale in its greater part), and on its upper margin 3 to 5 sharp-pointed rigid processes. The stalk-like portion of the scale bears on its inner side 2 to 5 seeds, which are ovate-oblong, somewhat triquetrous in section, and narrowly winged, with a mucro near the apex.

 

 

CRYPTOMERIA JAPONICA

 

Cryptomeria japonica, Don, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xviii. 167, tab. xiii. i (1839); Hooker, Icon. Plant. vii. 668 (1844); Siebold, Flora Japonica, ii. 43, tab. 124, 124b (1870); Kent in Veitch's Man. Coniferæ, 263 (1900); Shirasawa, Iconographie des Essences Forestières du Japan, text 24, tab. ix. 25–42 (1900); Mayr, Fremdländische Wald- und Parkbaüme, 278 (1906).

 

A tall tree, attaining in Japan a height of 150 feet or more, and a girth of 20 to 25 feet, the trunk tapering from a broad base. Bark reddish brown, and peeling off in long, ribbon-like shreds. Leaves persistent for 4 or 5 years, arranged spirally on the shoots in five ranks, curving inwards and directed forwards, awl-shaped, tapering to a point, compressed laterally, keeled on front and back, bearing stomata on both sides, with the base decurrent on the branchlet to the insertion of the next leaf The buds are minute, and composed of three minute leaves, which are free at the base, and not decurrent.

The male flowers are clustered at the ends of the branchlets in false racemes, the leaves in the axils of which they arise being reduced in size, and fulfilling the function of bracts. They appear on the tree in autumn and shed their pollen in early spring, remaining for some time afterwards in a withered state.

The buds of the female flowers are also to be seen in autumn terminating some of the branchlets, and covered externally with small, awl-shaped leaves.

The shoot^[1] is frequently continued in the leafy state throughout the cone ("proliferation"), and the extended portion often grows to several inches in length beyond the cone, and even in some cases bears male catkins.

Woody excrescences^[2] of a conical shape often develop on the stem, to which they are loosely connected. They correspond to the "wood-balls" which are found on beeches and cedars, and like these are due to abnormal development of dormant buds.

Seedling: the cotyledons, which are generally 3 in number, the occurrence of 2 only being rare, are carried above ground by an erect caulicle, about ½ inch long, ending below in a primary root, which is reddish, flexuous, and about 3 inches long, giving off a few lateral fibres. The cotyledons are linear, flattened, obtuse, and about ¼ inch long; two, narrowed at the base, are prolonged on the caulicle as ribs; the other, sessile on a broad base, is not decurrent; all bear stomata on their upper surface. The first leaves on the stem are in a whorl of 3, similar in shape to the cotyledons, but longer and with slightly decurrent bases. The leaves following are inserted spirally on the stem, and are longer, sharper-pointed, and more decurrent. All are spreading, with stomata and a prominent median nerve on their lower surface. The stem, roughened by the leaf-bases, terminates above in a cluster of 5 to 6 leaves, crowded at their insertion and directed upwards.

 

Varieties

There are at least two well-marked geographical forms, var. japonica and var. Fortunei, which will perhaps be ranked as distinct species, when the trees are studied in the wild state. Other varieties, which have probably arisen in cultivation, are distinguished by peculiarities of the foliage.

1. Var. japonica, the type described by Don from Japanese specimens collected by Thunberg.—This is the form which occurs wild in Japan. The tree is pyramidal in habit, with straight, spreading branches and short, stout, dark green leaves. The cones are composed of numerous scales, bearing long acuminate processes, and showing long points to the bracts, making the outer surface of the cone very spiny, especially towards the summit. There are generally 5 seeds to each scale.

2. Var. Lobbii.^[3]—Tree narrow, pyramidal in habit, with short branches densely ramified. The leaves are long and light green in colour. The cones are like those of the preceding variety, but with the processes and tips of the bracts even longer and more slender. This is perhaps a geographical form, occurring in Japan, where it was collected by Wright. It has certainly proved hardier than the Chinese variety both in this country and on the Continent.

3. Var. Fortunei^[4] or sinensis.^[5]—A tree diffuse in habit, with deflexed branches and long, slender branchlets. Leaves long and slender. Cones with fewer scales (about 20), which end in short processes, the tips of the bracts being of no great length, so that the whole cone looks much less spiny than that of the Japanese forms. Seeds fewer, often only 2 on a scale, but apparently indistinguishable from those of the Japanese trees. This is the form which occurs wild in China, and which was first introduced into this country. It was described by Sir W.J. Hooker^[6] from specimens gathered by Sir Everard Home in Chusan. The Chinese form ripens its seeds three weeks sooner at Dropmore than the var. Lobbii.

4. Var. araucarioides.^[7]—Branches deflexed, with the branchlets long, pendulous, and very distantly placed. Leaves small, stout, stiff, and curving inwards at the top, dark green in colour. Cones as in var. japonica, of which this is only a slight variety. It is described as a shrub or low tree; but this may arise from its being propagated from cuttings. Large trees occur, of a similar habit, which seem, however, to be sports from var. Fortunei.

5. Var. pungens.^[8]—Leaves straight, stiff, spreading, darker green, and more sharply pointed than in common forms. I have not seen cones; and the origin of this variety is not clearly known.

6. Var spiralis.^[9]—A slender shrub, with leaves strongly falcate and twisted spirally by their free ends around the branchlets, which assume in consequence a corkscrew-like appearance. A specimen of this at Kew also bears some branchlets with normal leaves.

7. Var. dacrydioides.^[10]—Leaves very closely set and very short (about ¼ inch long) There is a specimen at Kew of this form, gathered by Maries and said to be wild. It is probably a depauperate form, originating in rocky, barren, exposed ground.

8. Var. nana.^[11]—A dwarf, procumbent, dense, spreading shrub, with short acicular needles, closely set on the rigid branchlets and directed outwards. This form attains only 3 or 4 feet in height, and very often bears monstrous fasciated twigs.

9. Some slightly variegated forms of Cryptomeria have appeared in cultivation; in one the tips of the branchlets are whitish; in another the leaves are yellowish in colour.

10. Var. elegans, Masters, Jour. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xviii. 497 (1881); Cryptomeria elegans, Veitch, ex Henkel und Hochstetter, Synopsis der Nadelhölzer, 269 (1865).—A fixed seedling form. The juvenile foliage is retained throughout the life of the tree, which bears the same relation to the type as Retinospora squarrosa does to Cupressus pisifera. It agrees in cones and in the anatomical structure of the leaves with the typical form.

In habit this is rather a large bush than a tree. The leaves, while spirally arranged on the shoot as in the ordinary form, spread outwards and are not directed upwards. They are decurrent on the branchlets, linear, flattened, curving downwards, sharppointed, grooved on the middle on both surfaces, and are light green in colour, changing in late autumn and winter to a reddish bronze colour, which gives the tree a remarkable and handsome appearance. There is a dwarf form of this variety, Cryptomeria elegans nana, which is a low, dense bush with crowded leaves, changing in colour in the autumn like the ordinary variety, except that the pendulous tips of the branchlets remain green.

The origin of this remarkable form is obscure. In Japan, according to Siebold, it is known as to-sugi, i.e. "Chinese Cryptomeria," and is said to have been introduced from China. Kaempfer mentions a nankin-sugi, introduced into Japan from China, cultivated on account of its beauty, which is possibly this variety.

Cryptomeria elegans was introduced from Japan to England in 1861 by John Gould Veitch.^[12] The largest specimen we know occurs at Fota; it is 42 feet high by 4 feet 9 inches in girth. In Cornwall this variety grows to a great size, the tops of the trees often bending down under the weight of their branches and foliage; and the outer lower branches commonly take root and grow into independent trees, which form a colony round the parent stem.^[13]

At Tregothnan there is a very fine example (Plate 37) which measures 35 feet by 4 feet 6 inches, and at Killerton there is another almost equal in size. In the pinetum at Cowdray this form also grows very well, and it is perfectly hardy at Colesborne and in Yorkshire. At Poltalloch in Argyllshire it also attains large dimensions.

 

Identification

Cryptomeria resembles Sequoia and Araucaria Cunninghami in having leaves which are spirally arranged and markedly decurrent on the shoots. The awl-shaped leaves of Araucaria Cunninghami strongly resemble those of the ordinary forms of Cryptomeria; but in the former they always end in bristle-like points, whereas in the latter they taper to a blunt point. The subulate leaves of Sequoia gigantea are closely appressed to the shoots in three ranks, with only their upper half free; whereas in Cryptomeria they are in five ranks, and are free from the shoots for the greater part of their length.

 

Introduction

The tree is said by Siebold^[14] to have been introduced into St. Petersburg by the overland route through Siberia, several years before Fortune sent it to England. The credit of the introduction into England is, however, due to Captain Sir Everard Home,^[15] who sent seeds to Kew from Chusan in 1842. Several seedlings were raised at Kew, which were kept in a greenhouse till 1847, and were then planted out; but they never did well. One planted near the rockery was living in 1880, when it measured 26 feet high by 2 feet 3 inches in girth; and another stood for some years near the main entrance. Both these trees have been cut down, and there do not appear to be any survivors of the first importation now at Kew or elsewhere. Fortune introduced the tree in quantity in 1844, when he sent seeds, apparently gathered in Chekiang, from Shanghai to the Horticultural Society. The first tree planted in France was at Chaverney in 1844, and the second at Angers in 1847. All the old trees in this country and on the Continent are from Fortune's seeds, and belong consequently to the Chinese form.

The variety Lobbii was introduced by Thomas Lobb in 1853 from the Botanic Garden of Buitzenborg in Java, where it had been sent from Japan in 1825 by Siebold,^[16] It differs only slightly from the ordinary Japanese form. Siebold^[17] states that he introduced the typical Japanese form into Leyden in 1861. John Gould Veitch introduced several kinds of Cryptomeria, as the result of his visit to Japan in 1860; but I have not been able to identify these, and according to H.J. Veitch,^[18] the typical Japanese form was first introduced by Maries in 1879. Probably there are no trees of this kind in England older than this date. The introduction of variety elegans has been already given above.(A.H.)

 

Distribution in China

Cryptomeria was discovered in China in 1701 by J. Cunningham, who found it in the island of Chusan, off the coast of Chekiang. His specimens, three in number, are preserved in the British Museum, and a branch with cones was figured both by Petiver^[19] and Plukenet.^[20] A few years previously, probably in 1692, it had been found in Japan by Kaempfer,^[21] whose specimen also is kept in the British Museum; and Thunberg^[22] obtained specimens in Japan, the material on which Don founded his description of the genus. It was collected in China at different times by Sonnerat,^[23] Millett,^[24] and Sir Everard Home;^[25] but we owe to Fortune the only account of importance of the tree in the wild state in China.

Fortune^[26] saw the tree for the first time in the plain of Shanghai in 1843, where it is planted in cemeteries and temple-grounds, and grows to a great size, the poles which are set up in front of temples and mandarins' offices being often of Cryptomeria. In 1844 he found it growing wild in the mountains south-west of Ningpo, where it forms dense woods with Cunninghamia and other trees. It is met with in the Chekiang mountains even at high elevations—the finest specimens seen by Fortune occurring in the Bohea hills, which he crossed in 1849. He was particularly struck with a fine solitary tree, at least 120 feet in height, which stood near the gate in the pass of the high range which separates the Chekiang and the Fukien provinces. At Ningpo the junks are mostly built of the timber of this tree.

Cryptomeria was also collected by Swinhoe^[27] in the country inland from Amoy, and by Pere David in the interior of Fukien, where, he says,^[28] it is a beautiful tree, becoming rare in the wild state, but existing still in the mountains at moderate elevations.

Specimens^[29] have been collected in other parts of China, but always, I believe, from planted trees. In Yunnan I only met with two trees, one (18 feet in girth) near a temple, and the other near a village. Cryptomeria apparently only occurs wild in China in the mountains of the Chekiang and Fokien provinces, between 25° and 29° N. lat., but may be found elsewhere when the interior of the country is better explored. In its native home in China the tree is subject to severe cold in winter, but the spring arrives suddenly with no late frosts, and the summer is much warmer than in England. In China the tree is called kuan-yin-sha ("goddess of mercy fir") in Yunnan, kung-ch'io-sung ("peacock-pine") in Szechuan, and sha ("fir") simply in Chekiang, where it shares the name with Cunninghamia, the timber of both trees being much used in the construction of houses and boats.

 

Cryptomeria in Japan

Both from an ornamental and economic point of view this is the most important tree of Japan, as it is also the largest, and though it is now difficult to say how far its natural distribution extends, it has been planted everywhere from such a remote period, and grows so rapidly that it is now the most conspicuous tree in all those parts of Japan which I visited except in the island of Hokkaido.^[30]

I saw it wild in the primeval forests which cover the mountains on the frontier of the provinces of Akita and Aomori in the extreme north, near a station called Jimba, at an elevation of about 1000 feet, where the lower edge of the forests and more accessible valleys have already been denuded of their best timber. The Japanese Government have lately made a good road up one of the valleys, which enabled me to see the forest at its best under the guidance of their obliging foresters. The hills are here very steep, often with a slope of 30° to 40°, and covered on the north-east aspects with an almost pure growth of Cryptomeria, and though on the south-west aspects a few deciduous trees, such as maple, magnolia, oak, chestnut, and Æsculus were mixed with it, I saw no other conifer. This forest is not truly virgin, because from time to time trees have been cut for shingles and tub staves, which are made in the forest and carried out on men's backs as usual in the remoter parts of Japan. But in many places it was quite dense, and the undergrowth consisted largely of ferns, Aucuba, Skimmia, Hydrangea, and a variety of other shrubs, and tall, rank-growing herbaceous plants such as Spiræa and Rodgersia podophylla.

The trees average in size 100 to 110 feet high by 2 to 3 feet in diameter, and are clean for half their length or more, in the denser parts of the forest. The largest trees which have been felled here do not exceed about 100 feet in timber length and about 4 feet diameter. The rings of one of 5 feet in girth which I measured showed 116 years' growth, of which about 87 were red heart-wood. Another close by was very flat-sided, measuring 3 feet 9 inches in diameter one way, and only 2 feet 9 inches the other, the centre on that side being only 1 foot from the nearest point of the bark. This tree was about 136 years old, over 100 years growth being red heart-wood.

Many trees were more or less curved at the butt, and many others forked low down into two, three, or more stems. There were plenty of cones on the trees which had sufficient light, but a careful search did not discover a single self-sown seedling, all the young trees which were coming up—and those not numerous—being evidently suckers or growths from the stool. The dense layer of coarse, sour humus and half-decayed leaves and branches form a bed in which the seedling after germination cannot take root, but on the railway banks and other exposed surfaces not overgrown by dense grass young seedlings appeared and grew freely. Many of these trees had large climbers, such as Vitis Coignetiæ, Schizophragma, and Wistaria, growing nearly to their tops. Plate 38, taken from a negative kindly given me by the Japanese Imperial Forest Department, shows the appearance of this forest. Plate 39 a, from the same source, shows a mature forest of Cryptomeria in the island of Shikoku. Plate 39 b shows the trunk of the tree and the manner of felling still adopted in Japan, cf. p. 137.

The forester told me that the system adopted in this forest, now that it is accessible, would be clean felling, followed by replanting as soon as possible, in the same manner as is generally adopted in the south of Japan.

I could not learn the exact range of Cryptomeria as a wild tree,^[31] but in the north, where the winter is long and hard, and the snow lies deep for months, it prefers the shady aspect, though it does not attain the same gigantic proportions as it does farther south.

Nikko is approached by a magnificent avenue of Cryptomerias on both sides of the road, 20 miles long, known more or less imperfectly by every visitor to that place, but which can only be properly appreciated by going some way east of Imaichi station, to the point where the trees in good soil attain their greatest dimensions. I took a photographer here specially to take the picture reproduced, and measured the finest trees I could find, of which the tallest was about 145 feet high, and the average 110 to 120 feet, with a girth of 12 to 20 feet on the better soils. Many of the trees have been planted so close together that they have now grown into one tree. The one which I figure (Plate 40) is composed of six stems, which measure 21 feet in greatest diameter, and about 60 in girth. Cf. Sargent, Forest Flora of Japan, p. 75.

The age of these trees, of which many have been blown down by recent gales and some felled, is, as near as I could count the rings of wood, 260 to 270 years, of which over 200 is red wood. The bark is not over ½ to ¾ inch thick, and though some of the trees were beginning to decay at the heart, others were quite sound. The soil is generally a rich black humus overlying a yellow tufaceous volcanic gravel, and the influence of bad soil on the trees is seen very clearly at a point about three miles east of Imaichi, where the road crosses a low ridge of dry and sandy soil, and where they are not more than 80 to 90 feet high by 6 to 8 feet girth.

At the celebrated temples of Nikko there are larger trees than any that I saw in the avenue. The best—shown in Plate 41—is about 150 feet high by 23 feet in girth, but I could not measure the height exactly on account of its position. They are said to be about 300 years old, being probably older than those in the avenue, and seem mostly in perfect health on a slope facing south where the soil is evidently deep and good.

But these magnificent trees are quite eclipsed by those which I saw later at the celebrated monastery town of Koyasan, in the province of Kishu, not nearly so well known to European tourists as it should be. The magnificent cemetery at this place is over a mile long, and planted as an irregular avenue with many lateral annexes—each of which was in the past the private burying ground of great families—with Cryptomeria trees which are said to be 400 years old, and which, I believe, surpass in grandeur any other trees planted by man in the world. They grow at an elevation of about 2800 feet, in a climate which is much milder, and gives evidence of a much heavier rainfall than that at Nikko; for many of the trees had shrubs growing on them as epiphytes on their trunks. In one case a tree of Cupressus obtusa has its stem, 6 to 8 inches thick, completely embedded in the trunk of a sound and healthy Cryptomeria, from whose sap alone it must now be deriving its sole nourishment, as no decaying wood is visible, and it is about 20 feet from the ground. The shape of the trees here is more picturesque and less regular than at Nikko, some having spreading branches quite near the ground; the best of these measured 133 feet by 19 feet 3 inches, with a spread of 25 yards.

The finest trees in the cemetery, and probably the finest in existence, stand on the right at its extreme end, close to an enclosure, just before reaching the large barn-like temple called "Mandoro," or hall of ten thousand lamps, which is itself surrounded and backed up by a grove of superb trees standing very thickly together. Of the trees on the right just before reaching the temple one had previously been measured by Prof. Honda of Tokyo University, who made it 58 metres high. I made it 180 feet with a girth of 24 feet. But though this may be the tallest it is not so fine a timber tree as the one standing just beyond it, which does not swell so much at the ground, but carries its girth higher up and is cleaner. This tree is broken off at about 150 feet, but seems quite vigorous, and certainly contains 2000 feet or more of sound timber.^[32]

So far I have spoken only of the Cryptomeria in a wild state and as an ornamental tree, but it is also planted very largely in many parts of Japan for timber, and forms a most profitable source of revenue to many of the smaller landowners and farmers as well as to the State. Its cultivation has attained a maximum in the district of Yoshino in the province of Yamato, and from The Forestry and Forest Products of Japan, published at Tokyo in 1904, we learn that this cultivation dates back 400 years, and covers as much as 38 per cent of the whole area of the district, of which no less than 93 per cent is forest land. The inhabitants have probably brought the art of profitable timber growing to a higher point of perfection than any other people in the world, no less than 85 per cent of the local male population consisting of woodmen, sawyers, timber carriers, and foresters. The quantity of Cryptomeria timber alone exported from Yoshino amounted in the year 1902 to 8,857,000 cubic feet, valued (I presume locally) at 1,695,000 yen, equal to about £175,000 sterling.

The trees are planted out at three years old after being twice transplanted in the nursery, where they are raised from seed and kept shaded during the first year. This, at least, is the rule in the Kisogawa district, though I was told that in the south Cryptomerias are more cheaply and quickly raised from cuttings, and that these produce as good trees as seedlings.

About 4000 per acre are usually planted, and weeded once or twice a year for three years, when they suppress the weeds by their shade. The plantations grow very fast, and are pruned from the eighth to the twenty-third year after planting out. Thinning is done at the earliest at twelve years, and the thinnings form such a profitable source of revenue that income is probably returned quicker by such a Cryptomeria plantation than by any other tree. The final felling takes place at about 120 years old, when as many as 180 trees, containing 15,000 cubic feet, may be found on an acre. The previous thinnings are estimated at 16,000 cubic feet, making the total product per acre in 120 years over 30,000 feet. This result, which appears astonishing, is perhaps exceptional, but all the plantations I saw gave evidence of extremely rapid growth, and showed a larger proportion of clean useful poles and timber than any plantations which I have seen in other countries.^[33]

 

Timber

The wood is used for almost every purpose in Japan, but especially for tubs, staves, and building. Though not as valuable as the best wood of Cupressus obtusa for high-class buildings and internal work, it is, when properly selected, sawn, and planed, highly ornamental both in colour and grain, easy to work, durable, and strong enough for most purposes. It has also a most agreeable odour due to the presence of a volatile oil called sugiol by Kimoto,^[34] who gives an analysis of it, and states that the wood on this account is used for making saké casks, the saké acquiring a peculiar pleasant aroma.

It varies very much in colour and figure, the most valuable being the wide planks—sometimes 3 to 4 feet wide and over—which are used for doors, ceilings, and partitions in the best houses. The darkest in colour comes from the southern island of Kiusiu, and is known as Satsuma sugi. When it shows a very fine red grain in old gnarled butts it is known as Ozura-moko, the best of this colour being very valuable. There is also a grey-coloured variety known as Gindai sugi, which appears to be taken from trees which have died before felling, but I could not get very definite information on this point.

The finest example I know of the ornamental use of Cryptomeria wood is the ceiling of the large dining-room in Kanaya's Hotel at Nikko, which is composed of panels about 30 inches square, cut from the butts of trees which show very curly and intricate graining, and without polish have a natural lustrous gloss. The Japanese never paint or varnish the wood in their houses inside or out, and attach more importance than European builders do to its quality, colour, and figuring. It seems very strange that none of the numerous travellers and writers on Japan have, so far as I can learn, as yet paid any attention to the beauty of the Japanese timbers. As a rule Cryptomeria is spoken of by English-speaking Japanese and Europeans as cedar, but sugi is the native name.

The bark of the tree is also largely used, when taken off in large sheets, for covering outbuildings of secondary importance, but does not appear to be so much valued or so durable as the bark of Cupressus obtusa, Thujopsis dolabrata, or Sciadopitys verticillata. An ounce of the seed contains about 50,000 seeds. For raising trees to plant in the colder parts of Europe I should certainly prefer seed from the natural forests of the north to what is grown in the subtropical climate of South and Central Japan, and I should therefore warn anyone wishing to plant this tree largely to be very careful about the origin of the seed or plants.

The value of this wood varies considerably in Japan according to locality and quality, but about 80 yen per 100 cubic feet, equal to about {{sc|I}}s. 8d. per foot, is the price in Tokyo, and selected half-inch boards for ceilings and panellings cost from 2S. to 4s. each.

Rein, in Industries of Japan, p. 226, speaks of a Cryptomeria which he measured in 1874 having at 1½ metres high a girth of 9.41 metres, equal to about 30 feet. This grew on the Sasa-no-yama-toge, between Tokyo and Kofu, at about 750 metres above sea level.

Weston, in The Alps of Japan, mentions trees high up on the eastern side of the pass between Nakatsugawa and the Ina-kaido, called the Misaka-tõge, on the northern slope of Ena-San, which measured at 3 feet from the ground no less than 26 feet in girth. It would not be supposed possible that in a country where neither machinery nor horse-power is used for the removal of timber such large trees could be utilised, but the Japanese are very ingenious in the handling of large logs in their mountain forests.

I was presented by Baron Kiyoura, Minister of Agriculture, with a most curious and interesting series of sketches, which I found in the Imperial Bureau of Forestry, showing the means adopted for felling and transporting large timber growing in rocky gorges and the most inaccessible situations. These I exhibited at a meeting of the Scottish Arboricultural Society at Edinburgh on 10th February 1905.

The modus operandi is as follows:—First men climb up the trees and lop off all the large branches, so that the tree may not lodge among its standing neighbours when felled. Ropes are then attached to the trunk and carried round a windlass, so that it may be pulled over in the right direction.

When the tree is felled it is cut into suitable lengths, often 20 to 30 feet long, and a hole cut in the end, to which a stout rope is attached. By this it is sometimes dragged, sometimes lowered, to the nearest slide, which is built up of smaller timber. Or, if the locality is too distant from a slide or from a stream large enough to float it, a platform is built on the mountain-side, on which it is sawn into boards, which are carried out of the forest on men's backs, or on sledges on the snow.

A most ingenious plan, which I have seen in no other country, is adopted where the slope of the mountain is too steep to let a log slide at its own pace.

The slide is built in a zig-zag form, and at each angle a bank is made and covered with earth and bark to check the impetus of the log, whose upper end when so checked is reversed by means of a strong pole laid across the slide, and then goes downwards till it reaches the next angle, where it is again checked and reversed by its own weight.

To see a large gang of men, all singing in chorus at their work, moving timber in a mountain forest under the direction of their foremen, is one of the most interesting sights beheld in Japan, and I could not sufficiently admire the pluck, activity, and ingenuity they showed in the very dangerous and difficult work which is necessary when logs get jammed, as they often do in these rapid mountain torrents; and when men, standing on small rafts fastened to boulders in a roaring rapid, or let down from above by ropes, have to dislodge the logs from where they have stuck fast.

Cryptomeria japonica yields in Japan a turpentine or semi-solid resin, named sugi-no-janai, which was shown at the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition. This resin, which is very aromatic, is used as incense in Buddhist temples, and as a plaster for wounds and ulcers.

 

Cultivation

The tree ripens seeds in good summers in the south of England, which are easy to raise, and the seedlings grow rapidly after the first year. Seeds which I gathered in 1900 from a tree at Stratton Park, Hants, the seat of the Earl of Northbrook, and sowed in the open ground, germinated at the end of April, whilst others sown in a pot on Christmas Day and kept in a greenhouse, germinated on 17th April, and grew much better than those sown in the open. Some of the young trees planted out at two years old are now (January 1905) 3 to 4 feet high, and have not suffered at all from the spring frosts.^[35]

The seedlings are easy to transplant, and might be raised in nurseries at a lower rate than many trees, though they should have some protection for the first two or three years, and if kept in pots the roots should not be allowed to become cramped, and if twisted round the bottom of the pot should be carefully spread when planted out. The tree may also be propagated from cuttings, and this plan is sometimes adopted in Japan, as being cheaper and quicker than raising seedlings, but except in the case of varieties, should not be adopted if tall, straight trees are desired. I have seen in the garden of Mr. Chambers at Grayswood, near Hazlemere, Sussex, a self-sown Cryptomeria which had germinated in a chink of the garden steps, and which is now growing at Colesborne, and I have no doubt that others might be found in suitable situations, as Mr. Bartlett has lately found a seedling at Pencarrow, Cornwall, growing at the base of the parent tree. Cryptomeria seems to be more adaptable to various kinds of soil than many exotic trees, and does not mind a moderate amount of lime, but loves a situation well sheltered from cold winds, and a soil deep enough and light enough to keep its roots moist during summer. I have not seen it grow well on heavy clay, where it suffers from spring frost. If timber and not ornament is the object, I should plant it about 10 feet apart, alternate with some fast-growing conifer, such as common larch or spruce, which might be cut out when the trees became too crowded.

Mayr^[36] considers that in warm, damp parts of Europe the Cryptomeria may probably be planted profitably as a timber tree in sheltered valleys and in good soil, but recommends the mixture of other trees as nurses wherever the winter temperature is low, and says that alders are preferred by the Japanese for this purpose. He says that a plantation of this tree in East Friesland had attained 12 metres in height and 23 centimetres in diameter; and on the island of Mainau, on Lake Constance, he measured, in 1897, a tree which was 18 metres high and 40 centimetres in diameter.

 

 

Remarkable Trees

The finest specimens of Cryptomeria known to us in England are at Hempsted, the seat of the Earl of Cranbrook, in Kent, which Lord Medway thinks were planted before 1850. They grow in a sheltered situation on a greensand formation, and the largest exceeds Sequoia sempervirens, planted near it, in height. I made it 80 feet by 8 feet, and another tree 72 feet by 8 feet 2 inches. Both are symmetrical, and seem to be growing fast (Plate 42).

At Pencarrow, in Cornwall, a number of trees were planted by Sir W. Molesworth in 1848–9, and have thriven very well, though the soil is not very favourable. Mr. Bartlett informs us that the tallest of them, which grows on a dry, steep, stony bank, crowded by other trees, is now 68 feet by 5 feet 6 inches. The largest, on moister soil, is 62 feet by 8 feet. Six other trees, planted in 1875, vary from 48 feet by 5 feet down to 33 feet by 4 feet 3 inches. At this elevation, 450 feet, there is often snow, and the thermometer sometimes falls to 12° and 14°.

At Castlehill, in North Devon, the late Earl Fortescue planted many Cryptomerias, but though they have grown well, they are mostly rather bushy than tall trees, and may have been raised from cuttings. One of them, which was 8 feet in girth and only 40 feet high, was covered with burr-like excrescences as much as 8 inches long.

At St. George's Hill, near Byfleet, growing on Bagshot sand on the highest part of the hill, surrounded by pines, is a tree 64 feet by 5 feet 5 inches.

At Kitlands,^[37] near Leith Hill, Surrey, there is a large Cryptomeria, planted by the late D.D. Heath, Esq., the branches of which have taken root and formed a grove, whose branches in turn root outside.

There is a fine tree at Killerton, which in 1902 was about 75 feet high, by 6 feet 5 inches in girth, though owing to its situation it was difficult to photograph or to measure exactly. A tree at Bicton is nearly equal to it in height and girth. At Eastnor Castle, Worcestershire, the property of Lady Henry Somerset, there is a tree 65 feet high by 5 feet 10 inches in girth.

At Fonthill Abbey, Wilts, the seat of Lady Octavia Shaw-Stewart, there is a beautiful tree 67 feet high by 9 feet 3 inches in girth. At the entrance gate of Rufford Abbey, Notts, the seat of Lord Savile, there is a fine tree about 62 feet high.

At Dropmore a large tree, planted in 1847, was cut down in 1904,^[38] and measured 68 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 9 inches. Though it seemed in perfect health, Mr. Page informed me that the heart was partly decayed. There are still three good specimens at Dropmore—two of the Chinese kind, planted in 1847, which measure (February 1905) 64 feet by 5 feet 6 inches, and 62 feet by 6 feet 7 inches; the third, var. Lobbii, planted in 1853, is 74 feet high by 4 feet 7 inches in girth. These measurements were kindly sent by Mr. Page.

At Barton, Suffolk, one, planted in 1848, was found by Henry in 1904 to be 63 feet by 5 feet 3 inches, and proves that the tree will thrive on good soil even in the east of England.

At Williamstrip Park, Gloucestershire, the seat of Lord St. Aldwyn, there is a tree 45 feet by 5 feet, probably one of the first introduced.

At Penrhyn, North Wales, there is a fine tree, 64 feet by 5 feet 5 inches.

The best example I know of the growth of Cryptomeria as a forest tree is at Tan-y-bwlch, in Merionethshire, the property of W.E. Oakeley, Esq., where a large number of seedlings were raised about 40 years ago from a tree which is now 62 by 6 feet, and has apparently not grown much lately.

The best of its progeny, growing on a slate formation where rhododendrons flourish exceedingly, near sea level, is already 53 by 4½ feet, and many others average about 40 by 3½ feet. Some are growing among beech and oak, others in a plantation of larch and Corsican pine facing north. In the latter the average girth of 8 trees was 3½ feet, whilst larch of the same age was little over 2 feet, and Corsican pine about the same. Mr. Richards, forester to Lord Penrhyn, who saw this plantation shortly after it was made, agreed with me that its success would amply justify planting Cryptomeria on a large scale in North and West Wales in sheltered places on good land up to about 300 feet above the sea. But, judging from a large board sent me by Sir John Llewellyn, grown in South Wales, the timber is much lighter and softer than it is in Japan, and perhaps will not be equal for outside work to that of Douglas fir grown on similar land.

At Dynevor Park, in Caermarthenshire, the seat of Lord Dynevor, there are some well-grown trees, the tallest of which is 56 feet by 6 feet 10 inches.

At Belshill, Northumberland, the property of Sir W. Church, there is a tree 50 feet by 4 feet 8 inches, which is about 50 years old and quite healthy.

In Scotland the tree seems quite hardy, and at Keir, the seat of A. Stirling, Esq., a tree planted in 1851 has increased from 42½ feet in 1892 to 52 feet by 8 feet girth in 1905. It has the trunk covered with burrs. At Castle Kennedy, the seat of the Earl of Stair, there is a tree 56 feet by 6 feet I inch.

In Ireland there are several fine trees. At Coollattin, Wicklow, the property of Earl Fitzwilliam, a tree measured 63 feet high by 6 feet in girth in 1906. At Woodstock, Kilkenny, a tree of the variety Lobbii, which was planted by Miss Tighe in 1857, is now (1904) 67 feet high by 6 feet 7 inches in girth. Close by this tree is a wonderful group of Cryptomerias, which have been produced by natural layering. The parent tree in the centre is about 50 feet high, and around it are over 20 trees, with straight stems, which are themselves layering, so that in course of time a grove may be produced.

At Fota there are many examples of Cryptomeria and its varieties. The form spiralis is about 15 feet high. The variety araucarioides is 31 feet by 3 feet 8 inches in girth, very compact in habit. Elegans is 42 feet by 4 feet 9 inches. The variety Fortunei measures 72 feet high, with a girth of 8 feet, a beautiful pyramidal tree, displaying the stem below with its characteristic stringy bark. This tree was planted in 1847.(H.J.E.)

 

1. Remarkable instances of proliferous cones and other abnormalities are described and figured in Rev. Horticole, 1887, 392.
2. Figured in Gard. Chron., May 30, 1903, p. 352.
3. Gordon, Pinetum (1858), p. 54.
4. Cryptomeria Fortunei, Hooibrenk, Wien. Jour. für Pflenzenkunde (probably meaning: Wiener Journal für das gesammte Pflanzenreich; Wikisource ed.), 1853, p. 22.
5. Cryptomeria japonica, var. sinensis, Siebold, l.c. 49.
6. Hooker, loc. cit. He points out the difference in the cones of the Chinese and Japanese trees, but says that they are undoubtedly one species. Bunbury, Arboretum Notes, 172, remarks that the cones of the Barton tree, from Chinese seed, are very different from Don's figure of Japanese cones.
7. Carrière, Traité Gén. Conif. (1867), p. 193.
8. Hort. A sub-variety of this, pungens rubiginosa, is mentioned in Garden, iii. 1873, p. 322. The leaves are said to assume a coppery or tawny red colour from August until April.
9. Siebold, loc. cit. 32.
10. Carrière, Traité Gén. Conif. (1867), p. 193.
11. Knight, Syn. Conif. (1850), p. 22.
12. Veitch, Man. Coniferæ, 1st ed. 218 (1881): "Met with only in cultivation in neighbourhood of Yokohama."
13. Jour. Hort. Soc. xiv. (1892), p. 30.
14. Siebold, loc. cit. 48.
15. John Smith, Records of Kew Gardens (1880), p. 289; Sir W.J. Hooker, Guide to Kew Gardens, 1847, p. 28, 1850, p. 14.
16. Siebold, loc. cit. 48.
17. Ibid. 51.
18. Jour. Hort. Soc. xiv. (1892), 30.
19. Petiver, Gazophylacium Nature et Artis (1702), tab. 6, fig. 3, "Cupressus chusanensis, Abietis folio, from Chusan"; and Phil. Trans, xxiii. (1703), p. 1421, No. 70.
20. Plukenet, Amaltheum Botanicum (1705), text 69, tab. 386, fig. 3.
21. Amœnitates Exoticæ (1722) p. 883. Kaempfer's figure is published in Icon. Kaempf. (1791), t. 48.
22. Flora Japonica, 265 (1784).
23. In 1776. Lamarck, Ency. Bot. ii. 244.
24. Collected at Macao, where the tree is only planted. Hook, Ic. Plant, vii. t. 668 (1844).
25. Sir Everard Home collected specimens (British Museum and Kew) in Chusan and near Woosung, and his notes say "from trees near tombs and joss-houses."
26. Fortune, Residence among the Chinese (1857), pp. 145, 184, 189, 256, 277, 412.
27. Specimen at Kew.
28. Plantæ Davidianæ, i. 291 (1884).
29. By Anderson, near Momien in Yunnan, and by Dr. Faber, on Mount Omei in Szechuan.
30. Mayr quotes Dr. Honda for the fact that the most southern locality where it grows wild is in the island of Yakushima, the northernmost of the Riu-Kiu islands, where in a dense forest at a high elevation it forms immense trunks.
31. In Forestry of Japan, p. 18, it is only said that splendid natural pure woods of it occur in the Nagakizawa State forests in Akita, and in Yakujima in the island of Kyushu, which I had not time to visit, but whether there is any notable difference between the trees in these distinct areas, separated by nearly ten degrees of latitude, is not stated, so far as I can find. According to Shirasawa (loc. cit.) fossil Cryptomeria trees of great dimensions have been found in nearly all parts of Japan.
32. Mayr, however, states that he measured a tree at Takaosan which attained 68 metres (over 200 feet) in height by 2 in diameter.
33. Tables of Production and Rate of Growth in Japan are given by Honda in Bull. Coll. Agric. Tokyo Imp. Univ. ii. 335 (1894–1899).
34. Bull. Coll. Agric. Tokyo Imp. Univ. iv. 403 (1900–1902).
35. But the severe frosts of May and October 1905 have injured several and killed some of the weakest of these seedlings.
36. Fremdländische Wald- und Parkbäume, p. 285.
37. Nisbet in Victorian Surrey County History, ii. 575 (1905).
38. Gard. Chron. Jan. 21, 1905, p. 44. This tree was reported to be 41 feet high in 1868 (l.c. 1868, p. 464).