134 THE LAECH. 



per tree, according to size of tree and description of 

 ground, &c. 



The commercial value of larch is very great: scarcely 

 any product of the soil is more valuable, and certainly 

 no species of timber is so much sought after and 

 so highly esteemed. The price of larch timber has 

 greatly fluctuated and decreased since the year 1 809, 

 when the Duke of Athole obtained from 3 s. to 3 s. 6d. 

 per cubic foot of wood. 



In Scotland, as in other countries, the prices are 

 now much more equalised than in former years. The 

 prices now obtainable for larch timber throughout 

 Scotland (I might say Britain) vary from lod. to is. 6d. 

 per cubic foot. As a rule, larch is dearer and oak 

 cheaper the farther north one goes, though to this rule 

 there are exceptions in certain localities. 



The greatest demand for larch at the present time is 

 for railway sleepers, props for mining purposes, and 

 fencing of all kinds, especially stakes for farm fences. 

 The bark of larch under forty years old is valuable for 

 tanning, and pays from 20 to 25 per cent, upon the 

 labour, minus felling the trees. 



It is sometimes asked. What proportional duration 

 does the sapwood of larch bear to the heart-wood ? The 

 question is difficult to answer directly, but may be 

 understood thus : — A larch tree twelve years old will 

 stand as a paling-post three years, at the end of which 

 time the heart- wood is quite decayed. At twenty years 

 old the root-cut will stand as a post four years, and the 

 heart-wood one year longer, or is one-fifth more durable 



