SOILS AXD SITUATIONS. 39 



to loading ground. Some timber is of little value 

 when young and of small size, and cannot without 

 loss be cut till of great age and large dimensions. 

 With the larch, however, it is quite otherwise, for it 

 can in many cases be as profitably cut down at forty 

 years, and used as economically, as if grown to twice 

 that as^e and of larsje size. Larch cut into six or 

 eight feet lengths, although the trees were ij feet in 

 diameter, would present no serious obstacle to their 

 removal from very steep banks or rugged valleys, at 

 least after being peeled and dried a few days in spring 

 or summer weather. 



Since the introduction of traction engines and steam 

 power so variously applied, the clearing of wood out 

 of ravines is not such a formidable undertaking as it 

 once was. I had recently an extensive lot of wood 

 cut for an auction sale, taken out of a ra^'ine which 

 hitherto had baffied all efforts to do so. With one, 

 and sometimes two engines, usually used in land culti- 

 vation, stationed on the top of the bank, and the steel 

 ropes and appliances used in ploughing, the largest 

 trees on the ground glided along like a sleigh, and the 

 whole cost was considerably less than could have been 

 done by horse-dragging on suitable ground. 



The larch in winter is as little liable to be blown 

 down with the wind as any tree in the forest. It is 

 known to have been grown in situations where probably 

 no other tree would stand. It is not, however, invin- 

 cible, and its history is but too sad to relate in connec- 

 tion with gales and hurricanes. 



