University Professor Notes the Splendid Cedar in Henry Wall’s Yard in Rockingham, 1922

From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 19, 1922

Interesting Comment by Prof. Coker of University on the Splendid Cedar Tree in the H.C. Wall Yard.

Last April Prof. W.C. Coker of the University faculty was in Rockingham conferring with the city school trustees regarding the laying off of the new school grounds. While here he was shown the remarkable cedar tree in the front yard of Henry C. Wall’s property, opposite the Methodist church.

Dr. Coker pronounced this tree as one of the finest specimens he had ever seen, and remarked that the possession of this tree alone ought to make Rockingham famous and noted all over the United States.

Dr. Coker is an authority in botany. He is a Kenan professor of botany at the University, and director of the Arboretum there.

The editor of the Post-Dispatch wrote Dr. Coker after his visit here and requested him to write at some length concerning this tree. We are giving below Dr. Coker’s reply:

“Dear Mr. London:

“I take pleasure in answering yours of April 15^th. The large cedar in Mr. Wall’s yard I take to be the deodora cedar (Cedrus deodora), but there is so little difference between this and the Mount Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) and the Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus Lebani) that it is practically impossible to separate them without fruit. These three trees above mentioned are the only real cedars in the world, and all are natives of North America, Asia Minor or the Himalayas. Other trees called cedar, as our common red cedar, are not true cedars. The deodora is a native of India and the Himalaya mountains and at its native home attains a height of 150 feet and a trunk circumference of 30 feet. The durable and fragrant wood is of much value but of course this is not of much consequence in this country, where they are only grown as ornamentals. Your Rockingham tree is the largest one of the group that I have seen in America and makes a most impressive appearance. In England, where they reach a much larger size than in the eastern States, true cedars are much used and are most impressive objects in the old parks and gardens, such as Kew Gardens and the grounds of Warwick castle. When young the trees are pyramidal, but in age become exactly the reverse, the tops spreading broadly and in many cases forming remarkably picturesque flat tops without lower branches. In the grounds of Warwick Castle the tops of these tall and majestic trees are the favorite haunts of scores of peacocks. Their gliding in a long incline from these tree tops to the ground made a lasting impression on my memory. In the eastern United States these trees do not live, as a rule, to a very great age. Perhaps you could get very near the exact age of your Rockingham specimen by interviewing some of the oldest inhabitants. In Hartsville, S.C., we had a fine specimen on my father’s lawn, which was planted by him, but after about 30 years of healthy growth it suddenly died one summer without apparent cause.

“I enjoyed my visit to Rockingham very much. I do not believe that I have seen a better looking town of its size in the southern states.

                Yours very sincerely, W.C. Coker, Chapel Hill, N.C., April 29, 1922”