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138 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
Cryptomeria japonica yields in Japan a turpentine or semi-solid resin, named
sitgi-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. 1
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 Hazle-
mere, 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. Crypto
meria 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 2 considers that in warm, damp parts of Europe the Cryptomeria may
probably be planted profitably as a timberjree 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.
1 But the severe frosts of May and October 1905 have injured several and killed some of the weakest of these seedlings.
2 Fremdldndische Wald- and Parkbattme, p. 285.
Cryptomeria 139
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. Moles-
worth 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 Crypto-
merias, 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, 1 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 I9O4,2 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
1 Nisbet in Victorian Surrey County History, ii. 575 (1905).
2 Card. Chron. Jan. 21, 1905, p. 44. This tree was reported to be 41 feet high in 1868 (I.e. 1 868, p. 464).