50 The lHuropeau Larc?i—Ifs 'I)urabillty. 



any other saplings, are very durable when placed in the ground in ati 7inseasoned 

 state, or even when seasoned, yet I think some men have understood them in this 

 •way. It is stated that they are used for sheep-flakes, used to fence in sheep, but as I 

 understand it, these are portable fences, put together in lengths (hurdles), and that 

 they are attached to stakes driven into the ground. We are told that it is used for 

 palings on rustic fences, and lasts a long time, but I see no account of its being used 

 in the ground till it becomes large enough for hop poles. 



We are told by all the European writers that it is durable for posts and in all 

 structures where it comes in contact with the ground ; also for railroad ties, mill 

 axles, ship building, for lintels, joists, rafters and the main timbers in buildings, but 

 that it is not used for finishing lumber, owing to its being harder to plane than spruce 

 and pine lumber. 



European writers tell us that larch timber is not so durable nor so healthy when 

 grown on low moist ground as on high dry ground, and as far as I know, this fact has 

 been over and over again stated by most writers who have recommended the larch in 

 this country. For the past few years western tree planters, and especially Illinois 

 tree planters have been exchanging samples of European Larcji wood taken from 

 trees eight to sixteen inches in diameter. I have samples before me from Lake, Lee 

 Kane, Bureau, and other counties in this State, grown on sandy land, stiff clayey 

 land, ordinary prairie and low prairie, all healthy except one tree which was planted 

 by A. R. Whitney, about twenty years ago. Mr. Whitney sent a sample of the wood 

 to me, inquiring if I knew the cause of its death. The wood showed that the tree 

 had been diseased for years. I went to Mr. Whitney's and examined the tree and 

 the ground on which it was planted. To use Mr. Whitney's own words, he said that 

 when he received the tree he knew very little about the habits of the European Larch, 

 and it looked so much like the American or Tamarac, that he planted it on the edge 

 of a slouo-h, and our examination proved that the tree stood with its roots in stagnant 

 water. 



I am glad, however, to be able to state that Mr. Whitney planted a goodly num- 

 ber of larches, soon after planting the one named above, and put them on higher 

 land. A section of one of these trees, fourteen inches in diameter, was exhibited by 

 him at our Northern Illinois Horticultural meeting, two years ago. He has so much 

 faith in the durability of this timber, that he used them for posts on which he has 

 erected the present year one of the largest, if not the largest, fruit-house in the 

 northwest. 



Samuel Edwards tells me he has a European Larch over a foot in diameter, growing 

 finely on quite low land. I think it will become unhealthy before it reaches its full 

 growth, and would strongly advise planters against putting this tree on low, wet 

 ground, and I have used every opportunity to advise planters against this practice. 

 European writers caution against planting where the roots will come in contact with 

 stagna*nt water, but they seem to agree that some of the finest trees in Britain stand 

 in proximity to running water. 



The larch begins to form heart-wood when younger than almost any other coniferous 

 tree, not excepting the red cedar, but of course the more rapidly the tree grows, no 



