CHAP, cxiii. coni'fer.*;. iA^fiix. 2373 



have the advantage of producing shelter and shade without exhausting the soil 

 by their roots, as in the case of live hedges. 



The Bark of the Larch has long been used for tanning in its native Country 

 (see p. 2365.), and it seems first to have been employed for that purpose in 

 Britain, by Thomas Whife, Esq., of the Woodlands, near Durham, about the 

 beginning of the present century. (See Gen. Rep. of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 501.) 

 According to Monteath, when the best oak bark is 12/. 12^. per ton, the best 

 larch bark is 51. 5s. In general, he considers the bark of the larch to be 

 equal to that of the birch ; which, as it is well known, is generally used for 

 the purposes of tanning in Sweden and Russia. 



As a Nurse Tree, we have already mentioned, when treating of the spruce 

 (p. 2305.), that the larch can be by no means recommended. By its vigorous 

 growth, it robs the soil of what ought to nourish the trees to be protected ; 

 and, by its long, flexible, spiny shoots, it not only overtops them, but lashes 

 and injures the leading shoots of the young trees. 



Mr. Gorrie tell us, however, that " an exception may be taken in favour of 

 the larch, as a nurse to the oak, the roots of which descend below the range 

 of those of the larch. Its openness accords with the hardy nature of the 

 oak in winter, and thus allows the tree to acquire protecting properties, 

 before the nurses are removed. I have always found the oak to thrive, and 

 acquire vigour, when nursed by larches. Of course, lashing and overtopping 

 must be prevented, but this is easily done." 



The Imj)rovement of the Soil in ivhich the Larch grows is one of those import- 

 ant results first discovered by the Duke of Athol, and is thus described : — 

 " The lower and stronger branches meet together in six or seven years after 

 planting, so as to form a complete matting over the ground. The air and 

 light being excluded by them, all plants that are under them die. At the 

 same time, the annual deposit of leaves from them, by means of decompo- 

 sition, forms, in the course of time, a soil of considerable depth. At the age 

 of 24, the larches lose the spines on the lower branches altogether, and that 

 is the natural mark of their being ready to be removed by thinning, to a con- 

 siderable extent. On the air being readmitted by the removal of the trees, 

 the surface of the new-made soil wherever it has been formed, even among 

 the rocks, becomes immediately covered with natural grasses, among which the 

 i/olcus mollis and H. laniitus seem to predominate. These grasses continue 

 to grow, and to thicken into a sward, by the annual top-dresaing which they 

 receive from a continued deposition of leaves. The improvement of the 

 natural surface of the ground for pasturage, by means of the larch, appears 

 to be a property peculiar to this tree. This pasturage is quite capable of 

 improving the condition of cattle either in winter or summer." {Highl. Soc. 

 Trans., vol. xi. p. 188.) The grasses here mentioned, Mr. Gorrie observes, 

 " are bad pasture grasses, ancl should be discouraged ; but, as already ob- 

 served (p. 2363.), finer grasses will grow under these trees. 



As an ornamental Tree, the larch is generally considered to produce a very 

 good effect, particularly in hilly scenery. It is admired, says Baudrillart, " for 

 its pyramidal shape and spiry head; tor the tender green, and peculiar dis- 

 position of its foliage ; and lor its female catkins, which spread over the tree, 

 and, seen at a little distance, resemble wood strawberries in their form, colour, 

 and size; contrasting strongly with the pale green of the beautiful tufts of 

 leaves with which the branches are uniformly furnished. Placed singly on a 

 lawn, or rising from a group of other trees, this species is rarely surpassed in 

 beauty." The opinions of some English writers of acknowledged taste are, 

 however, very different from this. Gilpin says : " The larch we have in 

 England, compared with the larch of the Alps, is a diminutive plant. It is 

 little more than the puny inhabitant of a garden, or the embellishment of 

 some trifling artificial scene. The characters of grand and noble seldom 

 belong to it. It is, however, an elegant tree ; though, in our soil at least, it 

 is too formal in its growth. Among its native steeps, its form, no doubt, is 

 fully picturesque, when the storms of many a century have shattered its 



7o 4 



