126 THE LARCH. 



true figures of specimens discovered by him in the 

 grounds at Gordon Castle, and exhibited at the Con- 

 gress at Birmingham, and which elicited much com- 

 mendation. 



The larch, unlike the Scotch fir and most other 

 forest trees, is in an important sense mature at almost 

 any age, or at least may be cut as profitable whenever 

 it is large enough for the purpose required. The 

 following are examples of the growth of the larch 

 under favourable circumstances : — 



Clunyhill plantation, the town property of Forres, 

 Morayshire, surrounding the Hydropathic Establish- 

 ment, was planted in 1 846, and is thus thirty-five years 

 of age. The average girth of twelve trees at i o feet 

 from the ground, measured over the bark, is 4 1 inches, 

 and average cubic contents 14 feet. The trees have 

 all ample room and are very healthy. 



Mr. M'Lean, forester at Altyre, Morayshire, gives 

 as the average girth of some groups of the larches 

 in the Altyre Estate plantations at 10 feet from the 

 ground, 3 5 J- inches. The trees are forty years old, 

 and contain 1 1 cubic feet including (or 9 feet exclusive 

 of) bark, all healthy and of vigorous growth. 



Groups in a larch plantation on Innescara Estate, 

 County Cork, Ireland, forty years planted, — girths, on 

 an average at i o feet from the ground, 40 inches, and 

 contain an average of 1 3 cubic feet including bark, or 

 1 1 feet excluding it. 



At Ardross Castle, in Eoss-shire, the average of 



