THE BEST METHOD OF PLANTING AT HIGH ALTITUDES. 43 



trees that will afford shelter to stock. In selecting a tree to 

 meet both the above requirements, we naturally look, in the first 

 instance, for some thin-foliaged species which will admit sufficient 

 light to the ground to allow the herbage to grow, and will, at 

 the same time, permit a sufficient number of trees to remain on 

 the ground to furnish a profitable timber crop. 



For the above purposes the larch is admirably suited, and it is 

 moreover the most valuable conifer grown in this country, as 

 there is always a good demand for its wood in all sizes, from 

 small thinnings large enough to make self-railing, poles for 

 round fencing-posts, and pit props, to mature timber of large 

 dimensions. Although the larch will grow almost as freely at 

 high altitudes as any other species commonly grown in this 

 country, it does not succeed so well in very exposed situations, 

 and should never be planted on wet ground nor in localities 

 subject to late spring frosts. In planting exposed ground, if 

 larch be selected as the principal element of the timber crop to 

 be grown, it should be sheltered by or mixed with some other 

 species, and for this purpose we turn to the pines. The method 

 adopted by the writer is to plant a belt of pines (generally a 

 mixture of Scots, Corsican and Austrian pines) six or eight 

 rows wide all round the plantation, and also on any outstanding 

 ridges and crags ; and at the higher levels of the plantation to 

 mix the larch alternately with pines, working gradually into pure 

 larch as he comes down to the looo feet contour. Although 

 Scots fir and other pines are light demanders, and permit of 

 grass growing under them to a certain extent, still the grazing 

 for stock is not so good under them as that under larch, which 

 has a lighter crown. But the pines not being deciduous but 

 retaining their needles for more than one year, afford a 

 considerable amount of shelter, which is especially beneficial 

 to the larch in the spring months when we are subject to sudden 

 changes of temperature and to strong frosty winds. Any wet 

 spot occurring within the area of a proposed larch plantation 

 should be stocked with spruces, of which there are several 

 varieties ; indeed, a few good clumps of spruce are a great 

 benefit to stock, especially in times of heavy snow-storms and 

 rains, as the stock soon find out where the shelter is, and will 

 gather there during bad weather. 



That a handsome profit can be made out of larch under the 

 above conditions is shown by the accounts of a plantation in this 



