1821.1 



On the Cultivation of the Larch. 



219 



cause their rootsextending horizontally, 

 pines are best adapted to those soils 

 which have little depth. 



It is now about sixty years since pine 

 plantinc; first comm;'ne('d in that coun- 

 try, and the native, or Norwegian. 

 pbms sylvestris, (linn.) was the only 

 kind originally cultivated. The young 

 plants weie taken from the extensive 

 primitive forests of Braemar, in tiie 

 county of Aberdeen, for tiie use of the 

 neighbouring counties of Perth, For- 

 far and Kincardin. But it was sub- 

 sequently discovered, that these plants, 

 whether obtained from their native 

 forests, or raised from seeds at home, 

 for the most part degenerated and be- 

 came stunted at the age of t\venty, or 

 five and twenty years. 



The cause of this ill success occa- 

 sioned much discussion. A practical 

 and highly distinguished botanist, has 

 decided finally, that there are two va- 

 rieties of the pinm sylve.itris, the one, 

 according to his experience, never im- 

 proves after the twentieth year, the 

 other on the contrary, continues its 

 growth and improvement without in- 

 terruption. 



Such distinction, however, is faii'ly 

 questionable ; and the fact that young 

 plants from the fine forests of Aberdeen, 

 are equally subject to be stopped in 

 their growth at the age already stated, 

 seems to lead to a different conclu- 

 sion from the above. It had been for 

 a long time erroneously supposed, 

 that the pintts siiloestris would succeed 

 \ipon all poor lands : but observation 

 and experience have demonstrated, that 

 such species of the pine, requires a dry, 

 open, gravelly, or rather rocky soil, 

 when the rock is loose and creviced. 

 The thin, cold and marshy soils of 

 Scotland, and such are the greater part 

 of its poor lauds, are indeed applied to 

 the planting of wood. But that kind 

 of land is at no rate favourable to the 

 pine under discussion, which invariably 

 suffers a check to its growth, Mhen 

 the fibres of the horizontal roots take 

 a jwrpendicular direction, and are 

 thenee imable to penetrate the depth 

 of the soil. These roots in Scotland 

 rest in a soil, which duriupf three parts 

 of the year is sodden with water. To 

 that cause may be added, (he interested 

 adViee of the nurserymen to plant 

 thick, which was followed by the first 

 planters in Scotland. Three thousand, 

 even to four thousand five-hundred, 

 plants, were in tirhes past set upon a 

 Scolch acre of laud, or about fourieen 

 hundred and fifty tuisa Fr.nch. It 



is no matter of astonishment then, 

 that with tiiich thick planting upon a 

 marshy and barren soil, (he trees 

 should be stunted and dwarfed in their 

 growth. 



The lARCH, pinus larix, was for- 

 tuitously introduced into Scotland, 

 about fourscore years since, from the 

 garden of (he Duke of Athol. The 

 beauty of this pine, its rapid growth, 

 its adaption to almost all soils, have 

 fixed the general attention of planters, 

 during these forty or fifty years, and 

 in consequence, the larch has been 

 almost universally cultiva(ed in Scot- 

 land, to the nearly entire exclusion of 

 the common pine. 



It was deemed necessai-y during a 

 long time, to protect the larch with a 

 shelter of the pinm sylvestris ; that is 

 to say, to intermix them, that the larch 

 might have the profe(;tion of the other. 

 This caution has, however, been since 

 found unnecessary ; the larch is now 

 planted alone, and experience has 

 proved that it thrives equally well un- 

 sheltered. 



The seeds of the larch made use of 

 in the plantations of Scotland, came 

 from the Alps; the Russian variety ap- 

 pears nor to have hitherto succe?ded 

 among us, proving perhaps, the inferior 

 quality of the seed imported from that 

 country. The larch, at the age of 

 twenty-five or thirty years, produces 

 seed fit for the nursery. After the cones 

 have been sulTiciently dried, it is proper 

 to open them witli a knife, find to ex- 

 tricate the seed. The method of rear- 

 ing this pine in the nurseries differs, in 

 no respect, from that usually adopted 

 wi(h the pinus .ii/lvesfris, or the pimes 

 ttbies. The larch plants are removed 

 from the seed-bed in the spring imme- 

 diately following, to other beds which 

 afford them a larger space for increase: 

 in the second 3'ear they are placed in 

 rows ; and in the third, after being 

 drawn from the seedlings, they are fit 

 to be used in the large jdantations. 



There are two modes of planting 

 the larch : in trenches and in cuts. In 

 tiie first method, trenches, proportioned 

 to the height of the trees, should be 

 dug in the autumn and the soil exposed 

 to the winter's frost : the plants being 

 subsequently deposited at a sufficiently 

 early season in the spring ; in order to 

 plant after the latter mode, a rectan- 

 gular cut is to be thus made with two 



strokes of the spade \ : wi(h the 



second cut, enough of tlic sod is raised 

 to make room for the roots of tlu^ plant, 

 wliich when covered must be trodden 



down 



