LARCH, AMERICAN. 



fine white gloves, not inferior to those made 

 of the most delicate chamois, while they are 

 stronger, cooler, and more pleasant for wear- 

 ing in the summer. 



The larch is propagated by seed, which is 

 generally ripe in September and December, 

 when the cones may be collected and carefully 

 dried, and put away till April, which is con- 

 fidered the best time for sowing. The most 

 proper season for felling the larch is July. 



2. The red larch fir {A. microcarpa}. In this 

 species the cones are oblong, small, thin; 

 scales erect, close pressed, the upper ones 

 much smaller than the lower. It is a grace- 

 ful tree, with much of the habit of the common 

 larch, from which, however, its very small 

 cones, of a bright purple, readily distinguish 

 it. It is a native of North America. This is 

 by no means so well adapted to the planter's 

 purposes as the common larch. According to 

 the Duke of Atholl, trees when 50 years old do 

 not contain one-third as many cubic feet as the 

 common larch. The wood is so heavy that it 

 will scarcely swim in water. 



3. The black larch fir (jl. pendula). Cones 

 oblong, with numerous spreading scales, which 

 gradually diminish from the base to the apex 

 of the cones. Branches weak and drooping. 

 The leading shoot will often begin to droop at 

 the height of 15 or 20 feet from the ground, and 

 after gradually acquiring a horizontal direction, 

 will bend towards the earth, so as to form a 

 natural arch of great beauty. This species is 

 also a native of North America, where it is 

 found growing on a rich clay soil, mixed with 

 sand, in cold, mountainous districts. When 

 cultivated in Britain it is an elegant tree, hav- 

 ing a good deal of resemblance to the common 

 larch, but being of a brighter green colour, and 

 much more graceful. The wood is less valu- 

 able than the common larch. 



There is a report (Trans. High. Soc. vol. v. 

 p. 391), by Mr. Lawson on larches raised by 

 him from seed imported from the Tyrol, which 

 being the native country of the larch, is sup- 

 posed to mature the most perfect seed. 



The larch is affected with many diseases in 

 Britain. Some of these have been supposed 

 to arise from a constitutional weakness engen- 

 dered in the tree from the seed not having been 

 perfectly ripened. The reader's attention may 

 be drawn to several valuable treatises on the 

 diseases of the larch, distributed through the 

 volumes of the Trans, of the High. Soc. of Scot- 

 land, &c. In the Quart. Journ. of j3gr. there are 

 also some able papers, "On the 'probable Cause 

 of the Diseases of the Larch in Great Britain," 

 by the late M. Decandolle (vol. v. p. 403) ; 

 "On the Diseases of the Larch in the South c: 

 Scotland," bv Mr. Webster (Ibid. p. 535) ; "On 

 the Rot in Larch," by Mr. Gorrie (Ibid. p. 537) ; 

 and some remarks on the foregoing papers 

 (Ibid. p. 574); "On the Canker in Larch," by 

 Mr. Drummond, vol. ii. p. 221. (Penny Cyclo. 

 vol. i. ; Quart. Journ. of Agr. vol. iii. p. 794 ; 

 Brit. Husb. vol. iii.) Se CAXKER, FIRS, and 



LARCH, AMERICAN, see HACKMATACK. 



LARD. The melted fat of the hog, which is 

 much used for domestic purposes and in cook- 

 ery, for ointments, pomatums, and other pur- 

 700 



LARD OIL. 



poses. Pure lard has little or no taste, and no 

 odour ; its melting point is about 97 Fahren- 

 heit. When long exposed to the air it attracts 

 oxygen, and becomes rancid ; whilst a portion 

 of carbonic acid is evolved. Lard is a com- 

 pound of a solid, firm fat, stearine, and a semi- 

 I fluid substance termed elaine, in the proportion 

 of 38 of the former to 62 of the latter. 



Most fats and oils, whether of animal or 

 vegetable origin, are composed of these two 

 ingredients, upon the relative proportion of 

 which their consistence respectively depends. 

 They may be obtained separate by the action 

 of boiling alcohol, which on cooling deposits 

 the stearine, and yields the elaine upon evapo- 

 raion. Another method is to compress fat, or 

 oil congealed by cold, within the folds of bibu- 

 lous paper. The elaine is absorbed by the 

 paper, and may be separated by compression 

 under water; the stearine remains. 



Elaine resembles oil in appearance, is co- 

 lourless when pure, congeals at 20 Fahren- 

 heit, may be evaporated unchanged in vacua, 

 has little odour and a sweetish taste, is insolu- 

 ble in water, but soluble in boiling alcohol, and 

 consists of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. 



Stearine is white, concrete, fusible at 111 

 Fahrenheit, volatilizable unchanged in vacuo, 

 partly volatilized and partly decomposed whep 

 heated in a retort, insipid, inodorous, slightly 

 soluble in alcohol, insoluble in water, and com- 

 posed, like the former principle, of carbon, hy- 

 drogen, and oxygen'. 



Exposed to the air, lard absorbs oxygen and 

 becomes rancid. It should therefore be kept 

 in well-closed vessels, or procured fresh when 

 wanted for use. In the rancid state it is irri- 

 tating to the skin, and sometimes exercises an 

 injurious reaction on substances mixed with it. 

 Lard should never be used when it becomes 

 rancid. See FAT and ADEPS. 



LARD OIL. In the United States, where 

 swine are raised so abundantly, oil is. now 

 very extensively separated from lard. Its close 

 connection with the question of disposing of 

 the agricultural products of the Union, and 

 especially of the Western States, forms a rea- 

 son for giving it an extended consideration. 

 Several large factories for the manufacture of 

 this oil have been some time in operation in 

 Cincinnati, and thousands of gallons are daily 

 prepared for home consumption and exporta- 

 tion. It is also carried on at Cleveland, Ohio; 

 Chicago, Illinois ; Burlington, Iowa ; Hanm 

 bal, Missouri ; and other places both in the 

 Western and the Atlantic States. 



It is considered much superior to olive or 

 sperm oil for machinery and for the manufac- 

 ture of woollens, &c. It can be furnished also 

 at half the price, and therefore it will doubtless 

 supersede that article of import. As it con- 

 tains less stearine than other oils, it is found 

 much better for combing wool, for which pur- 

 pose a single factory wished to contract for 

 10,000 gallons from one establishment. It is 

 also undergoing trial in England; and, if it 

 succeeds, of which there can scarcely be a 

 doubt, large orders for it may be expected, or 

 at least the American lard itself, which pays 

 a less duty, will find a ready market. 



Repeated experiments have shown that for 



