204 SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



few words, wherever strength and durability are required, 

 however exposed to sun, wind, or water, the Larch will 

 be found far superior to oak itself. But although it has 

 been much used for ship-building, it has been found at 

 Venice, that it is better to use it only for the lighter 

 parts of the upper works, not where massy pieces of tim- 

 ber are required, on account of its weight. It takes an 

 excellent polish, and is valuable to the turner. Among 

 other uses, let it not be forgotten, that it has been the 

 common material for painters 1 palettes, and that, before 

 the use of canvas, it was the very substance upon which 

 Raphael and other famous artists painted their celebrated 

 pictures."" 



Mr. Martyn makes copious extracts from Dr. An- 

 derson's account of the Larch, in his Essays on Agri- 

 culture, in which there is scarcely any purpose to which 

 wood of any kind can be applied, for which he does not 

 recommend Larch wood. With regard to its taking fire, 

 he observes that where the masses are large, even if a fire 

 be placed on the bare wood, though it will be slowly 

 corroded by it, yet, unless in particular circumstances, it 

 cannot be made to flame so as to communicate it to other 

 bodies. 



Larch wood is used liberally in the buildings at Ve- 

 nice, " especially," says Evelyn, " about the palaces in 

 Piazza San Marco." 



The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu- 

 factures, and Commerce, in London, in the year 1 788, 

 gave three gold medals, and a premium of 30Z. for plant- 

 ing Larch, and making known the many useful purposes 

 of its timber. They have offered both honorary and 

 pecuniary rewards for its propagation. Of late years 

 there have been made many plantations of Larch, and it 



