CHAPTER II. 



HISTORY AXD INTRODUCTION INTO GREAT BRITAIN. 



A GEEAT many towns, we are told, contended for the 

 honour of being the birthplace of Homer. In like 

 manner, the credit of having introduced the larch has 

 been claimed by numerous planters, and it is now diffi- 

 cult, if not impossible, to assign to any one person the 

 priority. Some say they were first planted in England, 

 and others that they were first planted in Scotland. 



A writer in the Highland Society's ." Transactions " 

 says : " Loudon gives many details as to the early plant- 

 ing of the larch in Scotland and elsewhere, but he 

 nowhere mentions Linley, which is somewhat remark- 

 able, if it was early planted there. Xevertheless, it is 

 certain, both from the appearance of the trees now 

 existing: there and from the tradition of workmen on 

 the estate, that some of the very earliest j^lanted 

 larches, if not the earliest, are at Linley. On one tree 

 that was blown down, Mr. Boscowen tells us that he 

 counted a hundred and twenty rings, and these did not 

 represent the full age of the tree. There is a fine speci- 

 men on the lawn, with, as usual in larches of that age, 

 one or more of its principal branches much longer 

 than the rest, and abruptly bent upwards. This tree 



