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ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

Description. The white cedar, according to Michaux, is a tree from 70 ft.to 80 ft. high, and rarely more than 3 ft. in diameter, unless, perhaps, in someof the great swamps, which have not been thoroughly explored. When thewhite cedars grow close together, the trunk is straight, perpendicular, anddestitute of branches to the height of 50 ft. or 60 ft. The bark is very thinon young trees; but on older trees it becomes thick, of a reddish colour,and similar to that of an old vine. When cut, a yellow transparent resinexudes from it, of an agreeable odour, but in such small quantities, that onlya few ounces could be collected in the course of a summer, from a tree 3 ft.in diameter. The wood is light, soft, fine-grained, and easily worked. Whenperfectly seasoned, and after it has been some time exposed to the light, itis of a rosy hue. It has a strong aromatic odour, which it preserves as longas it is guarded from humidity; and it resists the alternations of dryness andmoisture longer than the wood of any other species of American tree. Theconcentric circles are always perfectly distinct, even in trunks of consider-able size; but their number and compactness prove that many years mustelapse before the tree arrives at its full growth. Michaux informs us that hehas counted 275 annual layers in a trunk only 1 ft. 9 in. in diameter, and 47in a plank only 8 in. thick. The tree, in the climate of London , is of slowgrowth, seldom exceeding the height of 4 ft. or 5 ft. in 10 or 12 years. Thereis an old shattered specimen at Mill Hill, probably one of the original plantswhich were raised by Collinson, which, in 1836, was 15 ft. high; and a mag-nificent tree at Pain’s Hill, near the temple of Bacchus, which, in 1837, was50ft. high, with a trunk 2ft. in diameter; the trunk is erect, and the branch-lets are pendulous, somewhat in the manner of those of a spruce fir. Thereis a very handsome tree of about the same dimensions near the Duke of De-vonshire’s villa at Chiswick , on the property which in the 17th century be-longed to Sir Stephen Fox , and which is now occupied by-Lance, Esq.,

a well known cultivator of Orchidaceas. Plants, in the Horticultural Society’sHarden, which have been 12 years planted, are only 5ft. high; and thereare some of the same age, but rather higher, in the Hackney arboretum.

Geography, History, fyc. In America , the white cedar grows only in wetgrounds in the maritime districts of New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia ,where it nearly fills the extensive marshes which lie adjacent to the salt mea-dows, and are exposed, at high tides, to be overflowed by the sea. In NewJersey , it covers, almost alone, the whole surface of the swamps, of whichthe tupelo and red maple occupy the skirts. Farther south, it is mingledwith the deciduous cypress, by which it is at length entirely supplanted.In Lower Jersey and Maryland , the swamps are accessible only during thedriest part of the summer, and when they are frozen during winter. Thetrees stand so thick in these swamps, that the light can hardly penetratethrough the foliage; and, under their gloomy shade, at every step, are foundtufts of the dwarf rhododendron, azalea, and andromeda, the luxuriantvegetation of which proves that they delight in dark and humid places.The Dismal Swamp, near Norfolk, in Virginia , is covered with the whitecedar and the deciduous cypress; the cedars being in the centre of theswamp, and the cypresses on the margin. The white cedar was introducedinto England by Peter Collinson, in 1736 ; and, though it is not so frequentin collections as the common cypress, it is still to be met with in the prin-cipal nurseries. The tree at Pain’s Hill, which is in deep sandy loam, showsthat, if not common in the climate of London , it is not because it will notthrive there.

Properties and Uses, fyc. The wood, on account of its lightness, and itspower of resisting alternations of dryness and moisture, is in common use, atBaltimore and Philadelphia , for shingles, which are cut transversely to theconcentric circles, and not parallel to them like shingles of the deciduouscypress. They are from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 3 in. long, from 4 in. to 6 in. broad,and 3 lines thick at the larger end. At Baltimore , they are commonly calledjuniper shingles, and are there preferred to those of the deciduous cypress,