DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 271 



The Larch is the great timber tree of Europe. Its wood 

 is remarkably heavy, strong, and durable, exceeding in all 

 those qualities the best English oak. To these, it is said to 

 add the peculiarity of being almost uninflammable, and 

 resisting the influence of heat for a long time. Yitruvius 

 relates that when Caesar attacked the castle of Larignum, 

 near the Alps, whose gate was commanded by a tower built 

 of this wood, from the top of which the besieged annoyed 

 him with their stones and darts, he commanded his army to 

 surround it with fagots, and set fire to the whole. When, 

 however, all the former were consumed, he was astonished 

 to find the Larcli tower uninjured.* The wood is also 

 recommended for the decks of vessels and the masts of 

 ships, as it is little liable either to fly in splinters during an 

 engagement or to catch fire readily. 



[n Great Britain, immense plantations of this tree are 

 made with a view to profit ; and although as yet nothing 

 like rearing trees for timber has been attempted here, 

 nevertheless the time must come when our attention will 

 necessarily be turned in this direction. When such is the 

 case, it is probable that the Larch will be found to be as 

 much an object of profit on this side of the Atlantic as on 

 the other. Indeed, we are much inclined to believe that 

 thousands of acres of our sterile soils in some districts, 

 might now be profitably planted with this tree. 



In Scotland, the Larch was first introduced in the yeai 

 1738, when eleven plants were given to the Duke of Athol, 

 who afterwards, struck by the rapidity of their growth and 

 the excellency of their timber, planted thousands of acres 

 with them As a specimen of what is done in timb<»» 



* Newton's Vitruvius, ■;. 4-j. 



