Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1920-03-04
FLUSHING'S
FAMOUSOLD
CEDAR Of
LEBANON
Christian Science Monitor Prints
Story of Flushing Tree Which
Attracts Hundreds of Tree
Lovers Here.


to the Human estate in Flushing.
which was published in the Christian
Science Monitor of Boston, on Febru
airy TO-
Mr.. Rintelmann, mentioned is a
brother-in-law of Mrs. Human. He
has nursery of several hundred of
the trees raised from these seed, at
the Human home, on Sanford avenue.
The article follows:
In field in the northern section of
Flushing, Long Island, is an old Cedar
of Lebanon tree, the largest of the five
adult trees, which are all that Amer
lea boasts of this rare and highly
priced variety This tree has been the
cause of many pilgrimages by tree
lovers from all over the continent, and
seldom month passes but some one
from the Pacific coast of the United
States comes to Flushing to see the
wonderful tree.
And it is beautiful sight indeed.
standing alone and majestic, with a
height of 81 feet and a breadth of
branch of rs feet. The heavy and
closely matted branches give somewhat
the appearance of Japanese print, es-
pecially when the tree is outlined
against sky which the setting sun is
painting in yellow and gold, or else IN
e oil IauanIay
Beauty of the Wood
There is something that beguiles
the imagination in that tree of the
same variety as King Hiram, of tyre,
sent to King David for the building of
the first temple. The encyclopedias
tell us that the wood of the Cedar of
Lebanon was greatly esteemed by all
ancient builders because of its beauty
and durability, and because of the
pungent odor it retains for a great
| length of time The Bible tells us
that King David sent $4,000 hewers
of wood to cut those cedars, SO that
| he must almost have exhausted the
supply At any rate, travellers in the
sixteenth century reported only % of
these great trees growing on the
slopes of Mt. Lebanon, and none to
be found in any other portion of
Palestine This number gradually
| decreased in the records from time to
| time, till, in the middle of the eight
ont a
| Graham reported that he was able to
| find only II specimens, and he feared
! the determination of the variety.
However, by the opening of the war
| there were said to be 400 good-siZed
| trees on Mt. Lebanon, but reports
have come from that section that dur
ing the campaigns many of these fine
| old giants were cut down to furnish
l'fuel for the military operation of the
railroads. The largest tree on Mt
| Lebanon is AT feet in circumference
and is estimated to be over 1000 years
old Indeed, the natives have queer
tradition that this particular tree was
| created on the third day of creation
and will not die till the end of the
world.
The Cedar of Lebanon (the true
| Variety has always been considered
very rare and exceedingly priced
| tree and almost every one who has
ever attempted to propagate it has
met with failure When G. H. Rintel-
man of Flushing began to experiment
with this tree he was told that it was
sterile and that it was impossible sue
cessfully to grow seedlings. But he
| loved the tree, he lived with it, and
| thought of little else. He wanted SUI
premely to succeed and he perse-
vered in face of all sorts of difficulties
until he did succeed, and, today, he
has several thousand hardy one, two,
and three-year-old seedlings growing
in his yard.
Old Methods Discarded
In his first attempts Mr.. Rintelmann
followed the learned treatises that
had been written upon the subject,all
of which agreed that sprouting Ce-
dar of Lebanon should be handled
much as dollhouse flower. After re-
peated failures, when he had only
three small green shoots left out of a
batch of hundreds, he threw all the
books into the discard and set the
shoots out of doors in the icy-Feb-
ruary weather. Those were his first
three trees and from that day forth
there was no coddling of shoots at the
Rintelmann establishment
In method of propagation the Cedar
Of Lebanon is interesting and unique
The tree has on the same limb the
caterpillar-like yellol flowers which /
form the small fert1lizing cone and
also the larger seed-bearing cone. 1t |
fertilizes itself when the small fertiliz- |
ing cones pop open and distribute the |
pollen, which looks like sulphur and |
smells like resin. This gives the entire
tree yellowish appearance early in |
June. At this time the large seed I
bearing cones become sticky with a |
sort of resin and enough of the pollen
sticks to the seed ?cones to find its way
into the seeds It is not till the sec
ond wear however that the seed is