52 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



easier to adopt protective measures. In another instance, -^ here 

 two-year-old Japanese larches were obtained, five-sixths of them 

 were not lignified ; but since plani s of this species possess a won- 

 derful capacity for replacing a lost top from a side bud their height- 

 growth in the nursery was not much interfered with, and only 

 a slight bend remains to record its loss. While it is not denied 

 that lignification is fully effected in nurseries with a warm, sandy 

 soil, and in a free situation, it is equally certain that it does not 

 take place on a stifi' soil and under the influence of lateral shade. 

 Under the latter conditions, the side shoots do not end in points but 

 in tufts, giving exactly the appearance which the European larch 

 assumes at high elevations. The author records an interesting case 

 of the observed effect of lateral shade. A rectangular clearing was 

 made in a beech forest, and a plantation of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, 

 Norway spruce, and Japanese larch was established on the site. 

 The ground was hilly and facing south, the plantation itself lying 

 in an extremely fertile and well-protected hollow. It may be 

 assumed that about one-fifth of the normal sunshine was inter- 

 cepted and lost to the plantation by the beech forest. In 

 September, probably as much as one-third of the sunshine 

 was lost in this way. Under these conditions, the Japanese 

 larches did not ripen their new wood during either the first or 

 the second years, and they looked very sickly. Then a further 

 clearing was made of the beeches, the nearest of which had stood 

 at a distance of from 30 to 50 feet from the edge of the new 

 plantation. The effect was marvellous. The Japanese larches 

 made a growth up to 3 feet in length in the first year ; in the 

 second year the shoot was equally long, and the crowns showed a 

 vigorous appearance. Then came a violent wind, which levelled 

 sixteen out of sixty-nine plants to the ground, and blew all but 

 eight of the others from 4 to 8 inches out of the vertical. 



On account of failure to ripen its new wood, and the resulting 

 bayonet-like growth, which in wide planting cannot be prevented 

 by side pressure, the stems show a distinct deviation from the 

 naturally straight habit of the tree, and this will impair the value 

 of the timber. The young trees grow with extraordinary vigour, 

 and this year (1901) the growing season is prolonged even to the 

 middle of Octobei-. The needles are both larger and more numer- 

 ous than those of the German larch, and the rate of growth is there- 

 fore relatively very fast. Yet the Japanese larch grows in this 

 manner only on the best soils and in an absolutely free position. 



