Allies. ] CONIFERS. 4-09 



No. Locality. dirth at base. ll"c-it,'ht. Age. No. of rimrs 



per iueh. 



5. Jagrota ... 72 inches 90 inches 73 6'4 



6. ... 55 I'M 73 8-3 



7. Dainkiind . . . 82 120 248 19'0 



8. ... 77 103 192 157 



9. ... 72 120 195 17-0 

 10. . . . 80 108 223 17'5 



giving an average growth of 13 rings per inch of radius, or nearly 150 years of age 

 to a girth of 6 feet. Appendix III of the 'Preliminary Keporf on the Deoban Work- 

 ing Circle, 1875 ' gives the measurements of 8 trees in the Kanjatra Block. These 

 give an average? radius of lO'l inches and an average age of 97*8 years ; this would shew 

 a mean rate of growth of 9*7 rings per inch of radius. Up to G inches radius we have 

 as follows: 



Radius. 02 inches. 26 inches. 48 inches. 

 Average number of rings .... 16*7 19*2 17'3 



or, per inch 8'35 9'6 8*6 



or a tolerably uniform rate of growth. The Kanjatra figures further shew that the 

 following are the average ages for different girths : 



Girth. Eadius. Ae. 



18 inches 2'9 inches 25 



36 57 50 



34 8-6 81 



72 11-5 113 



Our small specimens appear to have all come from slow-grown trees, as they shew an 

 average of 16'8 rings per inch. 



With regard to the weight and transverse strength the following is all the informa- 

 tion available. Captain Jones' ten experiments in 1844 gave : Weight 31 Ibs., P = ] . l< ) ; 

 Wallich gave the weight at 21 Ibs., while our specimens, weighed by Dr. Warth, gave 

 an average of 29 Ibs. 



The wood is not durable when exposed to the weather, but seems to last well as 

 shingles in Sikkim, whence it is sometimes exported to Tibet for roofing. At Murree 

 shingles are said to last eight to ten years, and in Kulu three to six. In Kunawar and 

 Lahoul it is much used for construction. In the North-West Himalaya the bark is 

 used for roofing shepherds' huts ; in Sikkim it is used for troughs for the salt which is 

 given to sheep grazing on the higher hills. On the Jhelam the twigs and leaves are 

 cut and stored for winter use as fodder and litter for cattle. 



II US. 



934. Hazara, 7,000 feet 29 



774. Kalatop Forest, Dalhousie, 7,500 feet 



H 3031 ' } Hattu > Simla, 9,000 feet 



H 65. Nagkandji, Simla, 9,000 feet . . . ' . . . .29 



H 421. Thoua Block, Deoban Forest, 8,000 feet 30 



E 359. Sandnkpho, Darjeeling, 11,500 tVet 27 



E 2437. 



E 904. Chumbi Valley, Tibet, 10,000 feet 29 



4. LA MIX, Tounief. 



One Indian species. The European Larch is L. europcea, DC. ; Brandis 531, found 

 in the Alps of France, Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria, and in the Carpathians. The 

 Siberian Larch, L. sibirica, Led., forms large forests in Russia, Siberia and the Ural 

 and Altai mountains. 



Wood resinous, with a distinct red heartwood, not homogeneous, 

 consisting" of alternate layers of soft spring wood, and hard autumn 

 wood. Large vertical resinous duels. 



