Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1912. 221 



covered with a thick carpet of humus, that not a blade of grass 

 or any other weed could be found over the area. It is also to 

 be noted that the stem of the Japanese larch is not quite so 

 straight as that of the other species, and for this reason, and 

 also on account of the stronger branches, it will probably be 

 found that the timber of the Japanese larch is not quite so 

 easy or "kindly" to work. But for such purposes as fencing 

 posts, or rough estate work, a lack of fineness of grain is a 

 matter of little consequence. The fact that the Japanese larch 

 produces a stem scarcely so straight as the other is an additional 

 reason for securing somewdiat greater density in the stocking of 

 Japanese woods. There is no doubt that in the younger stages 

 of growth the Japanese larch is much more decorative than 

 the other species, and few finer effects can be produced on a 

 winter landscape than a pure wood of Japanese larch ten to 

 twenty years of age, the pale rose-coloured branches giving a 

 warm glow to the mass. This efi'ect is specially emphasised when 

 the ground is covered with snow, and anyone who has seen 

 this effect is not likely soon to forget it. In the case of the 

 Japanese plantation at Bewerley we had an excellent example 

 of the great power of recovery possessed by the Japanese larch 

 when badly broken by snow. A few years ago this plantation, 

 which reaches to an altitude of 920 ft., was deeply buried 

 under snow-drifts, and when the thaw came it was found 

 that many of the trees had been badly broken by the weight 

 of snow. On the occasion of our visit, however, three years 

 after the damage was done, the effects were practically 

 unobservable. 



It is worthy of note that nearly all plantations of Japanese 

 larch inspected by us in Yorkshire were situated at high 

 elevations, and this fact, no doubt, accounts, in a great measure, 

 for the success of the plantations. It is also to be borne in 

 mind that the long and severe drought of 1911 did not affect 

 the North of England nearly so badly as the South. 



It may be here mentioned that althotigh the Japanese larch 

 has been so favourably commented upon in Yorkshire, there 

 are many plantations which are situated on low, flat elevations 

 in other parts of the country where this variety of larch died 

 off by thousands, especially where the land was poor and sandy. 

 The cause, no doubt, was lack of moisture ; some of these 

 trees now dead were planted five or six years ago and were 5 

 to 7 ft. high in 1910. 



No doubt this variety of larch is an excellent tree for the 

 hillsides, but a warning note may not be altogether out of 

 place to future planters when it is urged that very careful 

 thought and attention should be given to situation before 

 forming a plantation on very dry ground. 



