FOREST TREES. 33 



" The American Larch, known very generally in New England 

 by the aboriginal name of Hackmatack, is sometimes known to 

 attain an elevation of seventy feet, but does not usually exceed 

 forty or fifty feet." It has crowded tufts of leaves, not unlike 

 those of the Spruce or Pine, much shorter than those of the latter, 

 and more slender and graceful than those of the former, and of 

 lighter green, so disposed on the ends of the branches as to make 

 the foliage of the tree the lightest of all the forest trees, espe- 

 cially when compared with the great strength of the tree itself. 

 " Late in autumn they turn to a soft, leather-yellow color, and in 

 the first days of November fall." " It has a straight, erect, rap- 

 idly-tapering trunk, clothed with a bluish-gray bark, rather rough, 

 with small roundish scales." The branches are numerous, and 

 most firmly attached to the stem, shooting out at apparently meas- 

 ured distances from each other, generally in a horizontal posi- 

 tion, which makes its ascent quite as convenient as a ladder ; and, 

 as it grows mostly on open or meadow land, it is often climbed 

 by timber-hunters, affording a good prospect of the forest on the 

 opposite side of the meadow or intervales. 



The wood of the Hackmatack is distinguished by the following 

 rpialitics : " Close-grained, compact, of reddish color, remarkable 

 for its great weight, strength, and durability," the latter even 

 being greater than the Oak. " On these accounts it is preferred 

 re all other woods for knees, beams, and top timbers in ship- 

 building." 



The Larch is !y cultivated in Europe, particularly iu 



Scotland. Though in America it ia md in low 



Lew land, where is depth of soil and pi moisture, it 



' has nevertheless " the property of flourishing ilmost 



without soil, thickly strewn with firaj 'high, 



bleak sides and tops of hills, where vegetation scai 



The following account of the experiments made by the Dukes 

 of Athol, on the Highlands of Scotland, ifl Lg and 



B 2 



