DURABILITY. . I4I 



down and replaced by an iron standard one in 1S70, 

 after having stood eighteen years. The posts were put 

 in round, with the bark on, and were the gleanings of 

 a plantation forty years old. 



The soil in which the posts stood was a stiff clay, 

 and they were sharpened and driven into the ground 

 with the mell or mallet in the usual way. On taking 

 down the fence, it was found that though all the sap- 

 wood was completely decayed, so much so that it was 

 easily removed with the unaided fingers, yet the heart- 

 wood was almost as good as ever, except at the surface 

 of the ground. 



The plantation from which the posts were taken 

 grew at an altitude of about 800 feet, was freely 

 exposed on all sides, with a red clay soil, moderately 

 dry. The trees still remaining in the plantation are 

 mostly decayed in the heart at the root. 



Xo. 3 is a good and serviceable wood-and-wire fence, 

 erected in 1859. The soil is a cold stiff clay, the 

 situation freely exposed on all sides, and altitude about 

 600 feet. The posts were all either peeled or the 

 bark shaven off. When fresh and full of sap they 

 were peeled, and when dry they were shaven. 



The plantation from which the posts were taken 

 was only twenty-six years old, and situated on the top 

 of a hilliully 500 feet altitude. They are mostly in 

 fair preservation, but a few have been replaced. 



This is an example of the durability of larch, and 

 proves that trees, though comparatively young, if 

 grown in a well-exposed place and at a high altitude, 



