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On the Cultivation of the Larch, 



[April 1, 



(lovvii with the feet. This is an econo- 

 mical mode of planting, prompt and 

 effective, more particnlarly upon a dry 

 soil. Yet it is commonly observed, that 

 a dry sprinw is almost the only cause of 

 failure in the first year of a larch plan- 

 tation. 



Although, however, we find that the 

 larch succeeds on many soils which 

 do not all agree with the common pine, 

 we have never seen the former in a 

 healthy tand prosperous state of vegeta- 

 tion, if the land were not previously 

 surface-drained and cleaned from 

 stagnant water. 



It is usual to allow from twelve hun- 

 dred to two thousand larch plants to 

 tlie Scotcli acre ; nevertheless we have 

 found by experience, that twelve or 

 fourteen hundred are fully sufficient. 

 Tlie larch rising with its branches in 

 the form of a cone, it is necessaiy du- 

 ring the first ten years of its growth, 

 to allow ample space for the extension 

 of its inferior branches, which, in fact, 

 should serve as a counterpoise to the 

 summit, and promote a regular straight- 

 ness of tlie stem ; besides, it by that 

 means acquires a support against the at- 

 tacks of the wind agitating it above. 

 It is imiversally known, that straight- 

 ness of the trunk is a most important 

 quality in all timber of the pine class. 

 In fact, a crooked pine is scarcely ren- 

 dible; it will neither make planks, 

 beams, nor rafters. It is for su<;h rea- 

 son that we recommend the above mode 

 of management, and more particularly 

 for the larch. 



These plantations require to be regu- 

 larly thinned in order to their proper 

 and effectual growth. The thinnings 

 during some years, may not return the 

 expense of making them ; but are 

 nevertheless absolutely necessary to 

 give room on the plantation, for the 

 spread and more rapid growth of the 

 remaining trees. 



At the age of fifteen years, the con- 

 venient custom may be introduced of 

 making use of the larches for the pur- 

 pose of liop-poles ; at that of twenty, 

 or twenty-five year,-;, tiiey may be con- 

 verted into stong palisades and rafters 

 for the roofs of cottages; at thirty-five 

 and forty years, they become tit for 

 boards, joists, and even for beams in 

 (he construction of the largest edifices. 

 Such is the growth of this* pine in the 

 climate of Scotland. 



* It is most extraordinary, that notwith- 

 standing' the long experienced superiority 



We consider it as nn established rule, 

 that no living branch ought to be se- 

 vered from pines, or fiom trees of that 

 species. But in the plantations, the 

 inferior branches of the larch are too 

 apt to perish ; in which case it becomes 

 necessary to cut or shave them off close 

 to the trunk ; for in the yearly increase 

 of the circumference, a portion of the 

 dead branch is necessarily enveloj)ed, 

 the cause which produces in the pine 

 those dead or dry nodes, whicii are 

 not united with the wood, aud which 

 occasion those cavities afterwards dis- 

 covered in the planks. These dead 

 branches aie so fragile, that it is a mat- 

 ter of slight labour to prune them 

 througliouf a forest, as a forcible stroke 

 with a cudgel is sufficient to remove 

 them from the trunk even of the tree. 

 We have been so thoroughly persuaded 

 of the necessity of this operation, that 

 we have completed it through a larch 

 wood of three hundred acres, and found 

 the expense inconsiderable. 



The larch having reached the age of 

 forty years, may be cut into planks of 

 eight or ten inches width. At that age, 

 one third of its diameter consists of 

 heart, which is of a red colour, and of 

 a tint which approaches that of the ce- 

 dar wood, of which pencils are made. 

 In proportion to the age of the tree, 

 and the increase of the sap, the heart 

 of the wood increases, as in all otiier 

 white trees. Although the heart be 

 most durable, it is not proper to 

 clear it of sap, which would beatteudetl 

 with too much loss. In fine, larch 

 wood answers in tlie most perfect man- 

 ner all those purposes to which deal is 

 applied. 



No decisive experiment hath hitherto 

 been made between the comparative 

 strength of the larch from the forests 

 of Scotland, and the native pinus syl- 

 vestris of that country, and those of 

 Norway aud Denmark, imported from 

 the Baltic. But our architects aud car- 

 penters set a far greater value upon the 

 larch wood. They say it is not subject 

 to the attacks of those worms, which 

 penetrate the otlier varieties of the pine, 

 and that its durability is highly extolled 

 in the countries bordering on the Alps, 

 its natural soil. 



of larch timber, aud its extensive planta- 

 tions iu the northern parts of this country, 

 no quantity of it has hitherto been used by 

 the bnilders of the metropolis ; and that 

 even at this moment, there are numbers of 

 London buildei-s, who have never even 

 heard of larch wood. 



It 



