THE LARCH. 55 



ever, nor so elastic ; and as it does not dry so com- 

 pletely as pine, boards of it are more apt to warp. 

 It is, however, much more tough and compact; and, 

 what are very valuable properties, it approaches nearly 

 to being proof, not only against water, but against fire. 

 If the external timbers, and the principal beams of 

 houses, were made of larch, fires would not only be 

 less frequent, but they would be far less destructive ; 

 for, before a larch beam be even completely charred 

 on the surface, a beam of pine, or of dry oak, will be 

 in a blaze beyond the ordinary means of extinguish- 

 ment. Larch, however, is heavier to transport and 

 elevate, and also much harder to work, than pine ; 

 and as these circumstances are all against the profits 

 of the builder, they probably prevent the introduc- 

 tion of this most safe and durable timber. The 

 Venetian houses constructed of it show no symptoms 

 of decay ; and the complete preservation of some of 

 the finest paintings of the great masters of Italy is, 

 in some respects, owing to the panels of larch on 

 which they are executed. 



The objects for which larch timber seems prefer- 

 able to every other, are chiefly these : — gates, palings, 

 posts of all kinds that are inserted either in the earth 

 or in water, wooden buildings, many agricultural im- 

 plements, cottage furniture, bridges and gangways, 

 carriages for transporting stones and all hard and 

 rough materials, barrows for builders and road-ma- 

 kers, lighters, fenders, and embanking piles, lock 

 and dock gates for canals and harbours, coal and 

 lime waggons, vessels for carrying lime, pit-props, 

 and hop-poles of the smaller thinnings. For all 

 these pur])oses, and many minor ones, larch would 

 come considerably cheaper than any timber now in 

 use ; and would, in the average of them, last at least 

 thrice as long, — the saving to the public would thus 

 be immense ; and the lands upon which an abundant 



