SOILS AND SITUATIONS. 35 



layers or strata of soil may be compared to the geo- 

 logical formation of stratified rocks. In forming an 

 opinion as to tlie cause of failure of a crop of larch, 

 the trees are inspected, the upper surface of the ground 

 only examined, and the conclusion arrived at is as often 

 erroneous as correct. 



Moss is not generally regarded as soil suitable for 

 larch, yet the writer has seen as good larch grown 

 upon pure moss as upon any other soil, the roots of 

 which never penetrated either gravel, sand, or clay. 

 This, however, requires a few words of explanation. 

 The moss referred to was thoroughly decomposed, with 

 no fresh fibres, as seen in common peat-moss. It had 

 also either been dried by deep open ditches, or rendered 

 loose and open by being turned over in the work of 

 draining. Dryness and looseness are essential condi- 

 tions, in soil termed moss, in rendering it suitable for 

 the growth of larch. The best trees are always found 

 upon the margins of the ditches. Upon moory soil of 

 certain qualities larch grows well, while upon other 

 descriptions it degenerates. An extensive larch plan- 

 tation in Eoxburghshire, in an elevated district, grown 

 upon moory soil, is an illustration of both success and 

 failure. Part of the ground bears a good crop, and 

 part an inferior one, while some parts are quite bare. 

 When the soil is dug up or trenched, there is little 

 difference in the appearance of it throughout the 

 whole plantation. The difference of growth is there- 

 fore due to the varied conditions of the soil as to 

 compactness or firmness; and as an unvarying rule 



