OF FOREST-TREES. iz§

on which our ‘Painter *separate and blend their Colours, and were (till Chap. IV-the use of Canvas and Bed-tike came) the Tables on which the greatRaphael , and most famous Artists of the last Age, eternized their Skill.

CHAP. IV.

Of the Cedar , Juniper, Cyprefi, Savine, Thuya , &c.

i.'DUT now after all the beautiful and stately Trees, plad in per-D Musi Verdure ,

Quid tibi odorato rcferam fudantia ligno ?

Should! forget the Cedar? whieh grows in all Extreanrs ; in the ntoistcEt.An.Barbados, the hot Bermudas, (I speak pf those Trees fp denominated)the cold New-England, even where the Snows lie, as I am told, almosthalf the Year; for so it does on the Mountains of Libanus, from whenceI have received Cones and Seeds of those few remaining Trees. Whythen lhould they not thrive in Old England? I know not, lave forwant of Industry and Trial.

They grow in the Bogs of America, and in the Mountains of Asa,so as there is, it seems, no Place or Clime which affrights it; and 1 havefrequently raised them from their Seeds and Berries, of which we havethe very best in the World from the Summer-Jstands, though now al-most exhausted by the unaccountable Negligence of the Planters ; asare likewise those of M. Libanus, by the wandring and barbarousArabs t The Cedars we have from Jamaica are a spurious Sort,and of so porous a Contexture, that Wine will sink into it : On thecontrary, that of Carolina so firm and close, that Barrels and otherVessels preserve the strongest Spirits in Vigour. The New-EnglandCedar is a lofty Grower, and prospers into excellent Timber, which,being lawn into Planks , make delicate Floors. They Jhingle theirHouses also with it, and generally employ it in all their Buildings.

Why have we no more of it brought us, to raise, plant, and convert tothe same Uses? There is the Oxycedrus of Lycia, which the Archi-teSt Vitruvius describes to have its Leaf like Cypress ; but the rightPhœnician resembles more the Juniper , bearing a Cone not so pointedas the other, as we shall come to shew.

After these, I shall not here descend to the inferior Kinds, which somecall ‘Dwarfs, and common Juniper-like Shrubs , fitter to Head theBorders of Coronary Gardeners, and to be shorp. There is yet another >of the North-America, lighter than Cork it self, of a fragrant Scent,which is its only Virtue. In short,

After all these Exotics brought from our Plantations , answering sothe Name of Cedar , I should esteem that of the Vermuda, little in-ferior, if not superior, to the noblest Libanon ; and next, that of Caro-lina for its many Pises, and lasting.

Having spoken of their several Species, we come now to the Cul-ture, best raised from the Seeds, since it would be difficult to receive anyStore from Abroad. To begin with that of M. Libanus those whichseem of the greatest Antiquity, are indeed majestical, extending theBoughs and Branches, with their Cones JurJnm fpeftantia, as by most

we