70 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



The risk of disease can be materially reduced 

 by the choice of a situation suitable to larch 

 and by securing, through thinnings, a free 

 circulation of air in the plantation ; as to which, 

 see p. 33, supra. 



Larch grows best in situations which are 

 slightly damp and where the soil is freely porous, 

 as on banks. The quality of the land should 

 be similar to that of a fair hill sheep-walk. Rich 

 ground is apt to produce timber of a soft, spongy 

 quality, susceptible to disease. Dry land facing 

 the south would in most cases be so liable to be 

 burnt in a hot summer that it would be hazardous 

 to plant it with larch. Land covered with 

 heather rarely produces a satisfactory crop. 

 Two situations are almost certainly fatal, namely, 

 damp ground on a water-logged subsoil, such 

 as is frequently found on the flat top of moor- 

 lands, and low-lying ground liable to mist and 

 late frosts in spring and to a damp warmth in 

 summer. 



European larch is grown from seed collected 

 either in the United Kingdom or on the Con- 

 tinent. Seeds from Switzerland and the Tyrol 

 are preferred to seeds from Scandinavia and 

 Germany. In the hope, that seeds taken from 

 vigorous trees growing at moderate altitudes in 



