SYLVICULTURAL NOTES ON LARCH. 315 



this is attempted, the mother trees must be placed far 

 apart, or the area clear cut in strips, allowing the seed 

 to fall on them from adjoining woods. The method is 

 only successful under favourable circumstances. At any 

 rate, a second seed-year should not be awaited, but 

 all areas not stocked by the ftrst seed-year should be 

 planted up. 



t. Tending. 



Fertility of Soil. Pure woods only protect the soil 

 sufficiently for about 25 to 30 years ; hence they should 

 be underplanted. 



External Dangers. In its natural home Larch is 

 hardy; it suffers little from late frosts, and also not 

 much from drought. The damage done by snow and rime 

 is of moderate extent, and the tree is very storm-firm. 

 In Britain it is not so storm-firm, especially if the soil 

 should be saturated with water at the time of a gale ; it 

 also suffers somewhat more from late frosts, because it 

 sprouts much earlier. 



Eoebuck and deer do a great deal of damage to Larch 

 by injuring the bark, which is also peeled by rabbits. 

 Squirrels peel the top shoots. Hence the tree should be 

 protected against these animals by fencing and shooting. 



Larch is much exposed to attacks by insects and 

 fungi, and these dangers are much greater in 

 countries where it has been artificially introduced. The 

 Larch is especially attacked by minute moths, as 

 Coleophora laricella, which hollows out the needles, and 

 Argyresthia Icevigatella, and several Tortrices. The 

 u larch-bug," Chermes laricis, is very injurious. Nume- 



