2364- ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



by Messrs. Lawson and Son of Edinburgh, have been planted in different parts 

 of the country. The larch, ripening abundance of seeds in Britain, is now raised 

 in larger quantities by the Scotch nurserymen than any other timber tree ; 

 and tliere is scarcely any Scotch proprietor, of the mountainous districts more 

 especially, in whose plantations the larch is not the prevailing species. In 

 Ireland, it is also a favourite tree in the elevated regions ; though the extent 

 to which it has been planted in that country is trifling, when compared with 

 either Scotland or England. 



In France, the larch does not appear to have been planted to any consi- 

 derable extent ; thoi|eh De Candolle mentions having seen flourishing plant- 

 ations of this tree in the Vosges. Malesherbes, in 1778, having seen some 

 houses in the Vallais, which had been constructed of this wood 2iO years 

 previously, examined the timber, and found it not only perfectly sound, but 

 so hard that he could not penetrate it with the point of a knife. In 1798, 

 M. Boissel de Monville conveyed a number of trunks of larch to Toulon, 

 with a view to their being used in the construction of ships for the French 

 navy ; and they were examined for that purpose by the Commissioners of the 

 Marine, on the Gth of August in that year. The result, as reported by Des- 

 fontaines, in his Hktoire des Arbres, &c., was : 1. That the wood was more 

 resinous than that of P. Laricio, though, at the same time, it was much lighter, 

 in the proportion of 25 or 26 to 29 : 2. That the fibres of the larch were very 

 strong, and well able to resist twisting : and, 3. That branches clear from 

 knots might be used for topmasts ; but that trees must not be chosen for this 

 purpose which were either standing singly, or in thin plantations ; because, 

 in the one case, their trunks were likely to be strained by the wind, and in the 

 other to be injured by the multiplicity of branches causing knots. Notwith- 

 standing the favourable nature of this report, it appears from Malesherbes and 

 others, that all the previous experiments made with regard to using the larch 

 for the masts of large vessels were unsuccessful ; principally because the 

 tree, when of sufficient height, was never found of sufficient thickness. To 

 remedy this defect, Varennes de Fenille suggested the thinning of the native 

 forests, to allow the trees to acquire greater bulk of trunk j but it was found 

 that, instead of this being the case, it encouraged them to throw out branches, 

 and the wood, consequently, became full of knots. Baudrillart, in 1825, warmly 

 recommends planting the larch in the forests of the north and middle of 

 France, and especially in mountainous situations ; quoting from Martyn' s 

 Miller what had been done in Scotland by the Dukes of Athol and others. 

 Delamarre, in 1831, acknowledges his own want of experience in this tree; 

 and states that in Normandy, in his neighbourhood, the larch had been planted 

 to some extent ; and that, after 40 years' trial, the rate of growth was not satis- 

 factory; and that the trees had the great disadvantage of not disseminating 

 themselves by their seeds, like the pine and fir tribe. Near Coutances, in 

 Normandy, M. le Comte de Rambuteau has formed a plantation of larches 

 on a grand scale, with a view to study the value of that species as a timber tree. 

 In Germany, the larch has been introduced into plantations in Wirtemberg, 

 Bavaria, and some other states ; but, as it is indigenous in several districts, as 

 well as in Poland, it is less planted than might have been expected. De 

 Candolle mentions that M. De Charpentier expresses admiration of the mag- 

 nificent plantations of larches at Moritzburg and at Thorauz, near Dresden, 

 which are only 238 ft. above the level of the sea. They grow in sands almost 

 pure, not marshy, but habitually and moderately moistened by the filtrations 

 from large ponds in the neighbourhood ; and, at 40 or 50 years' growth, they 

 rival in size the most beautiful larches of the Vallais. 



Poetical Allusions. These are very few. The larch does not appear to 

 have been mentioned by any of the Greek poets, and by few of the Roman 

 ones. A supposition has, indeed, been broached, that the trees into which 

 Ovid describes the sisters of Phaethonto have been turned were neither poplars 

 nor alders, but larches. This supposition appears to have been founded on 

 the circumstance of a Roman medal having been found with three larches on 



