PLANTING. 65 



the ascertained value of the timber or the proved 

 adaptations of the tree. Yet much elevated land of 

 very little value in Sussex, Hants, Kent, and other 

 English counties remains unplanted, which could 

 scarcely fail to yield very remunerating returns if 

 covered with plantations, either of larch alone or of 

 larch and other trees. 



The preceding details give answer to the question 

 why larch does not now grow where it once did. It 

 will grow, under the same conditions as it ever grew, if 

 these conditions are only attended to. Planting, it 

 will be observed, should in general be done not closer 

 than six feet apart, or thinned to that distance. The 

 plants should be small when planted out, and the herbage 

 kept bare, so as not to confine or cover them. They 

 should be planted at a good altitude, and the soil and 

 situation should be dry and clear of spring frosts. 

 Now it is for those connected with larch planting to 

 see how far they have complied with these conditions. 

 If they have, and the larch has failed, perhaps other 

 discoverable causes may be at work, which may or 

 may not be preventable. 



If choice can be had of the season for planting 

 larch, I would unhesitatingly say autumn. Two con- 

 ditions are necessary to be observed : first, that the 

 plants are ripe, and this is known by the state of the 

 foliage, which becomes straw-coloured when the 

 growth is over; and second, that the ground be in 

 proper order to carry on the circulation of the sap. 

 Perhaps the latter precaution might have been with- 



