THE CEDARS OF THE FORESTS OF LEBANON

THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1922

Can you kindly furnish me with some information about the Cedars of Lebanon? I am studying the First degree.
C.H.L., Wisconsin.

After looking through a number of Masonic articles on this subject we discovered that the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 5, page 594, contains all such information as well as much beside: accordingly we are reprinting here that entire account:

Cedrus Libani, the far-famed Cedar of Lebanon, is a tree which, on account of its beauty, stateliness and strength, has always been a favourite with poets and painters, and which, in the figurative language of prophecy, is frequently employed in the Scriptures as a symbol of power, prosperity and longevity. It grows to a vertical height of from 50 to 80 ft. - "exalted above all trees of the field" - and at an elevation of about 6000 ft above sea-level.  In the young tree, the bole Is straight and upright and one or two leading branches rise above the rest.  As the tree increases in size, however, the upper branches become mingled together, and the tree is then clump-headed.  Numerous lateral ramifying branches spread out from the main trunk in a horizontal direction, tier upon tier, covering a compass of ground the diameter of which is often greater than the height of the tree.  William Gilpin, in his Forest Scenery, describes a cedar which, at an age of about 118 years, had attained to a height of 53 ft. and had a horizontal expanse of 96 ft.  The branchlets of the cedar take the same direction as the branches, and the foliage is very dense.  The tree, as with the rest of the fir-tribe, except the larch, is evergreen; new leaves are developed every spring, but their fall is gradual.  In shape the leaves are straight, tapering, cylindrical and pointed; they are about 1 in. long wad of a dark green color, and grow in alternate tufts of about thirty in number.  The male and female flowers grow on the same tree, but are separate.  The cones, which are on the upper side of the branches, are flattened at the ends and are 4 to 5 in. in length and 2 in. wide; they take two years to come to perfection and while growing exude much resin.  The scales are close pressed to one another and are reddish in color.  The seeds are provided with a long membranous wing.  The root of the tree is very strong and ramifying.  The cedar flourishes best on sandy, loamy soils. It still grows on Lebanon, though for several centuries it was believed to be restricted to a small grove in the Kadisha valley at 6000 ft. elevation, about 15 m. from Beyrout.  The number of trees in this grove has been gradually diminishing, and as no young trees or seedlings occur, the grove will probably become extinct in course of time.  Cedars are now known to occur in great numbers on Mt.  Lebanon, chiefly on the western slopes, not forming a continuous forest but in groves, some of which contain several thousands of trees.  There are also large forests on the higher slopes of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus mountains.  Lamartine tells us that the Arabs regard the trees as endowed with the principles of continual existence, and with reasoning and prescient powers, which enable them to prepare for the changes of the seasons.

The wood of the cedar of Lebanon is fragrant, though not so strongly scented as that of the juniper or red-cedar of America.  The wood is generally reddish-brown, light and of a coarse grain and spongy texture, easy to work, but liable to shrink and warp.  Mountain-grown wood is harder, stronger, less liable to warp and more durable.

The cedar of Lebanon is cultivated in Europe for ornament only.  It can be grown in parks and gardens, and thrives well; but the young,plants are unable to bear great variations of temperature.  The cedar is not mentioned in Evelyn's Silva (1664), but it must have been introduced shortly afterwards.  The famous Enfield cedar was planted by Dr. Robert Uvedale (1642-1722), a noted schoolmaster and horticulturist, between 1662-1670, and an old cedar at Bretby Park in Derbyshire is known to have been planted in 1676.  Some very old cedars exist also at Syon House, Woburn Abbey, Warwick Castle and elsewhere, which presumably date from the 17th century.  The first cedars in Scotland were planted at Hopetoun House in 1740; and the first one said to have been introduced into France was brought from England by Bernard de Jussieu in 1734, and placed in the Jardin des Plantes.  Cedar-wood is earliest noticed in Leviticus xiv, 4, 6, where it is prescribed among the materials to be used for the cleansing of leprosy; but the wood there spoken of was probably that of the juniper.  The term Eres (cedar) of Scripture does not apply strictly to one kind of plant, but was used indefinitely in ancient times, as is the word cedar at present.  The term arz is applied by the Arabs to the cedar of Lebanon, to the common pine-tree, and to the juniper; and certainly the "cedars" for masts, mentioned in Ezek xxvii. 5, must have been pine-trees. It seems very probable that the fourscore thousand hewers employed by Solomon for cutting timber did not confine their operations simply to what would now be termed cedars and fir-trees.  Dr. John Lindley considered that some of the cedar-trees sent by Hiram, king of Tyre, to Jerusalem might have been procured from Mount Atlas, and have been Callitris quadrivalvis, or arar-tree, the wood of which is hard and durable, and was much in request in former times for the building of temples.  The timber-work of the roof of Cordova cathedral, built eleven centuries ago, is composed of it.  In the time of Vitravius "cedars" were growing in Crete, Africa and Syria.  Pliny says that their wood was everlasting, and therefore images of the gods were made of it; he makes mention also of the oil of cedar, or cedrium, distilled from the wood, and used by the ancients for preserving their books from moths and damp; papyri anointed or rubbed with cedrium were on this account called ced ati libri.  Drawers of cedar or chips of the wood are now employed to protect furs and woollen stuffs from injury by moths. Cedar-wood, however, is said to be injurious to natural history objects, and to instruments placed in cabinets made of it, as the resinous matter of the wood becomes deposited upon them.  Cedria, or cedar resin, is a substance similar to mastic, that flows from incisions in the tree; and cedar manna is a sweet exudation from its branches.

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