370 KEPORT ON LARCH FORESTS. 



ponclingly large. On old trees, — at least such as are in decay from 

 general weakness, — female catkins are most abundant, and cones 

 correspondingly numerous. 



It is principally native to the southern regions of central 

 Europe, and some districts of the north of Asia. It is met with 

 pretty generally all over the Swiss and Tyrolese mountainous 

 districts. The Alps are said to be the most abundantly produc- 

 tive of larch, and next to these the Tyrolese mountains, the 

 Carpathian mountains, Hungary, and in Italy. In the north 

 and east of France larch grows abundantly, but is not met with 

 in Spain, Portugal, or Germany. 



The Tyrolese larch are by some considered of faster growth 

 than those of the Swiss Alps ; but this difference of growth, so 

 far as can be perfectly ascertained, is confined to the plants in 

 their early stages. The Tyrolese larch, from its more eastern 

 position, and the superior quality of seed, comes earlier into leaf 

 than that of Switzerland, or from the same latitude in France. 



From what we know of the growth of trees, we are led to 

 believe that they sometimes do equally as well in countries to 

 which they are transported as they do in their native place. The 

 ash and the sycamore are not considered natives of Britain, and 

 yet both trees flourish well there. Nor are we to conclude 

 respecting the larch, that because it grows well upon the slopes 

 of the Alps and Tyrol, that it will only thrive there, or under 

 circumstances precisely similar in this or other countries. 



An opinion commonly prevails that since the larch in foreign 

 countries is invariably associated with mountains, as the Alps, 

 the Tyrol, and others, it must of necessity have for its successful 

 growth a sloping bank and high elevation. Those who have 

 travelled in larch-growing countries tell us that equally good 

 timber is grown upon fiat as upon sloping ground, provided only 

 the soil is dry and open. Local observation corroborates this 

 statement, since it is obvious that the largest and best grown 

 trees in Britain are upon flat but dry ground. 



Passing from the geographical to the geological, we observe 

 that the larch best thrives in a loose and dry soil, where the 

 earthy particles are finely divided. 



The quality of soil (rich or poor) affects the growth of larch 

 little compared with other conditions, as dryness, looseness, and 

 temperature. 



The Alps are composed of granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and other 

 rocks, but where other formations occur, such as sandstone and 

 limestone, larch disappears. 



Upon the Alps and in Tyrol, larch grows at an altitude much 

 higher than the loftiest mountains in Scotland. Large trees are 

 found on the Alps at 5000 feet altitude, but, generally speaking, 

 the trees diminish in size at an altitude exceeding 4000 feet. 



