SYLVICULTURAL NOTES ON LARCH. 309 



As Weymouth Pine plants are more costly than those of 

 Scotch Pine, they are generally treated with more care in 

 transplanting, being as a rule placed in pits. 



i. Tending. 



Weymouth Pine preserves the fertility of the soil. 

 It requires protection against cattle and deer. Damage 

 by insects is, according to present experience, not of 

 much importance. Young plants are injured by a 

 Coccid, Chermes sir obi, and older ones by the gnawing 

 and breeding of a weevil, Pissodes pini. A bark beetle, 

 Tomicus bidentatus, is occasionally injurious. 



The Weymouth Pine suffers from many of the fungi 

 which attack Scotch Pine, but in a less degree. 

 Agaricus melleus and Trametes radiciperda, however, 

 do more damage, as they frequently kill young trees of 

 this species. 



The woods should be kept crowded so as to kill off 

 the lower branches, hence thinnings must be light 

 until the height-growth falls off. The dry branches 

 remain for a long time on the stem, and it is desirable to 

 remove them. Cutting off green branches cannot be 

 recommended, because it causes the stems to grow 

 unevenly. 



19. LARCH Larix europcea (D.C.). 

 a. Utility. 



The timber is moderately heavy, average specific 

 gravity, air-dried, = '62, soft, split* fairly well, very 

 durable, lasting longer than any other coniferous timber 

 grown in Britain ; it yields good firewood. 



