31 



was in high favor with the Eomans for the building of^ships 

 and bridges. Julius Cassar spoke strongly of its strength and 

 durability. 



I heard a lumber-man in Yenice say that its durability was 

 amply attested there, as most of the houses of the city are built 

 upon larch piles, many of which, though in use for centuries, 

 show no signs of decay. In a large Doge's palace, BOW used 

 as a hotel, he showed me some very ancient larch window- 

 casings which are still sound. For gondola posts in the canals 

 adjoining the houses the larch is preferred. In wharves and 

 many other positions in England, where there is an alternation 

 of wet and dry with the tide, the larch has stood this most try- 

 ing test far better than oak. In England it is regarded as the 

 best timber for railway ties. Monville says : " In Switzerland, 

 the larch, as the most durable of woods, is preferred for shin- 

 gles, fences, and vine-props. These vine-props remain fixed 

 for years, and see crop after crop of vines bear their fruit and 

 perish without showing any symptoms of decay. Props of sil- 

 ver fir would not last more than ten years." Evelyn says: 

 " It makes everlasting spouts and pent-houses, which need 

 neither pitch nor painting to preserve them." Michie affirms 

 that " For out-door work it is the most durable of all descrip- 

 tions of wood. I have known larch posts that have stood for 

 nearly fifty years." Professor Sargent expresses the opinion 

 that " For posts it will equal in durability our red cedar, while 

 in the power to hold nails it is greatly its superior." The chest- 

 nut railway sleeper, secreting an acid which corrodes iron, loses 

 its power to hold the spikes in about seven years, though the 

 tie itself may not so soon seriously rot. The larch, while -it 

 holds iron as firmly as oak, unlike the latter, does not corrode 

 iron. 



The president of the Illinois Central Kailway, having exam- 

 ined the vast planted forests of larch in Europe and learned its 

 remarkable fitness for railway ties, offers to transport the young 

 plants free of charge to any point on their lines or leased lines, 

 provided they are to be planted in the vicinity of the same. 

 It is, however, an experiment which time alone can determine, 

 whether the larch will retain its durability when planted in 

 the level, deep, vegetable mould of the prairies, with their 



