22 THE PRACTICAL PLANTER, 



of Dunkeld, a seat of the Duke of Athol, in 

 Perthshire, there are Larches of considera- 

 ble size, in a good form for ship-building. 

 Many have a crookedness or stem adapted 

 for ribs ; and one in particular we observed 

 with a forked top, admirably suited to knees. 

 The former appeared to have arisen, from 

 the stems, while young, having been in a 

 stooping posture ; and the other, from the 

 tree having lost its head,* and two opposite 

 side boughs having taken the office of lead- 

 ers : Fortuitous incidents, which art could 

 easily copy, and, we believe, with high ad- 

 vantage to this island. For, should the pre- 

 sent price of bark continue, a supply of Oak 

 timber, for the purpose of building large 

 ships, will, it is to be feared, be greatly les- 

 sened, if not in some measure cut off : A cir- 

 cumstance, however, which will be the less 

 regretted by the agricultural interest, as the 

 Larch will flourish abundantly on lands that 

 are, in a manner, useless to agriculture ; 

 while the Oak, to bring it to a stature suf- 



* The Larch, as has been sufficiently proved, will 

 bear the chastisement of the hedge-bill and shears with 

 as much patience as the Quick or Beech. 



