REPORT ON LARCH FORESTS. 415 



they should be taken off with the pruning saw, and the ground 

 cleared of them for the mutual benefit of the trees and pasture. 



Fourteenth, In thinning the aim should be to have upon the 

 ground 1200 trees at ten years old, 900 at fifteen, 600 at twenty, 

 450 at twenty-five, and 300 at thirty years, to stand as crop. 



Fifteenth, Larch, in the form of thinnings, and below thirty 

 years old, should be peeled for the sake of the bark : the operation 

 pays from 15 to 25 per cent., minus the cutting clown and 

 pruning. 



Sixteenth, The north of Scotland is better adapted to grow 

 larch than the south ; the reverse is the case with regard to 

 England, the south being better than the north, owing to the soil. 



Seventeenth, Larches, save in cold clays and upon moor-pan, with 

 a few other unimportant exceptions, even when they have not 

 attained timber size, have in general paid the proprietors equally 

 as well, if not better, than any other crop of wood. 



Eighteenth, There are three points to be attended to with the 

 larch, viz., freedom for its roots, which are soft and tender ; keep 

 the roots dry and cool, but not cold ; and protect the foliage from 

 cold easterly winds. 



Nineteenth, To grow larch well, it should be by itself or among 

 hardwoods, but not mixed with evergreens, except to thin out early. 



Twentieth, The disease termed " blister," being the result of 

 superabundance of moisture, is in many cases susceptible, if not 

 of cure, at least of arrestment, by drainage and clearing off the 

 herbage, which attracts moisture. 



REPORT ON LARCH FORESTS. 



By John Grigor, Forres Nurseries, Forres. 



[First Premium for 1866 — Ten Sovereigns.] 



There is no subject connected with the growth of timber that 

 stands more in need of close investigation than that of the 

 formation of larch plantations in this country. In some districts 

 we see plantations of this tree advance vigorously, readily 

 assume a timber size, hold on, and with judicious thinning 

 yield the greatest bulk of valuable timber of any tree adapted 

 to our climate. On the other hand, we find plantations ap- 

 parently under similar circumstances advance but slowly, or if 

 vigorous for a time, fall back after severe weather, display dead 

 twiggy branchlets, and become affected with every disease to 

 which the tree has a tendency. Numerous instances of this 

 sort give no hope of improvement, and the young trees in 

 some cases can only be removed from the ground at a cost nearly 

 equal to that of the formation of the plantation. Such is the 

 diversified and precarious state of the larch plantations in Scot- 



