LXXVI GUNNAR SCHOTTE. 
The Siberian larch also manures the ground by means ofits yearly shedding 
of needles; but probably it does this to a smaller extent than the European 
larch. It is true that the needles of the Siberian larch are longer than those 
of the European larch; but possibly its shorter boughs produce a smaller 
quantity of needles. 
In Russia and Siberia the larch is accustomed to a dry continental climate, 
and accordingly it should prefer the same kind of climate when transplanted. 
One would therefore be inclined to assume that it would not thrive in the 
moist climate of western Sweden. 
Finally may be mentioned a particularly important and good property of 
the Siberian larch, namely its great power of resistance to fire. After the 
great fire at Lycksele it was noticeable how well twenty-year-old larches with- 
stood the fire. Quite near buildings that had been burnt down, absolutely 
healthy and undamaged larches were found the following summer. BLOMQVIST 
(333) had earlier shown the power of the larch to resist forest fires in Siberia. 
He mentions that he has very seldom come across such damages from fire 
in the larch as in the pine. In young forests of pine, spruce and larch over 
which fire had passed, the two first kinds of tree had been killed off, while 
the larches were green. This is perhaps due chiefly to the thick protective 
layer of bark. Besides, wounds in the larch easily heal up. 
In Norway Siberian larch has'begun to be planted on a large scale along 
the railways, so as to get material for good sleepers in a short time. Such 
plantations can also be recommended as protective trees along the railways, 
as they are far less liable to be set on fire than are ordinary coniferous trees. 
After this is treated the regeneration of the Siberian larch. In its native 
country it sows itself plentifully; and v. BERG (428) maintains that it spreads 
itself there even at great distances. ÖRTENBLAD (287), it is true, mentions 
that the larch seed ought to spread a shorter distance than the seed of the pine 
and spruce, because the wings of the seed are bent so much that the seed 
rapidly falls to the ground. On the other hand, this is counterbalanced by 
the fact that the cones are more or less directed upwards, and consequently 
the seed cannot fall out in calm weather; not until the wind sets the boughs 
in violent movement are the seeds shaken out of the cones and thus obtain 
sufficient speed to be carried a long distance by the wind. 
In Sweden the still quite young trees have already shown themselves able 
to yield good seed and to sow themselves in abundance. The self-sown 
plants, ten metres high, at Hällan outside Piteå, have already been mentioned. 
At Bispgården (Jämtland) a little twenty-year-old grove almost yearly gives 
rise to self-sown plants in the neighbouring nursery, where they are taken 
care of and nursed. It is thus evident that the Siberian larch yields seed 
very early. 
In forest-cultures both sowing and planting are employed, chiefly the latter. 
In its native country the Siberian larch appears in mixtures with pine and 
also birch. In Sweden, too, it would seem that it could be planted with 
advantage intermixed with pine, either in small clumps of each kind of tree, 
or with a row of larches interspersed here and there, or, still better, with 
individual larches inserted in the pine plantations. 
The same reasons which have adduced for the intermixture of European 
larch with other kind of trees hold good also for the Siberian larch. It is 
