1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



435 



European Larch. It is, however, a 

 valuable tree for certain sections and 

 for combining in many mixtures. In 

 Europe it is not considered a lowland 

 tree and the best specimens are pro- 

 duced on the uplands, but it readily 

 adapts itself to wet, low ground, and 

 should often be planted in moist situ- 

 ations where other trees would not 

 thrive. As an ornamental tree it is 

 of good form and in the spring is made 

 beautiful by the delicate nature and 

 verdant freshness of the newly ex- 

 panded clusters of needle-like leaves. 



ENEMIES. 



The mature native Tamarack of the 

 Northeast was almost entirely killed 

 some eighteen years ago by the larvae 

 of a sawfly, and young trees are still 

 seriously injured by insects. As yet 

 no serious damage by this insect has 

 been reported from plantations of the 

 European species in the West, but the 

 small plats which exist in New Eng- 

 land have been badly injured and in 

 some cases nearly destroyed by insect 

 pests. In case of serious attack, speci- 

 mens should be sent to the Division of 

 Entomology for identification and sug- 

 gestions as to control. On low ground 

 a fungus known as Trametes pini often 

 attacks the Larch and so destroys the 

 substance of the wood that the tree 

 breaks down in even a slight wind. 



NOTABEE PLANTATIONS. 



A grove of European Larch near 

 Clear Lake, S. Dak., was planted on 

 the high prairie about fifteen years 

 ago (1886). The trees are now 3 to 

 5 inches in diameter at the base and 

 30 to 35 feet tall. The stand was 

 originally very thick, the trees prob- 

 ably standing 3 feet by 4 feet. Most 

 of the trees will each make a single 



post and there are many that would 

 make stakes in addition, almost large 

 enough for posts. The trees from 

 which this plantation was started were 

 shipped from England. 



A plantation of one and one-half 

 acres, now owned by Mr. Sulfin, is 

 situated near Dundee, 111. The trees 

 were planted at a uniform distance of 

 4 by 4 feet and are now twenty-eight 

 years old, tall and straight, with no 

 side branches. On a half-acre plat 

 that was measured, there were 400 

 trees with an average diameter at base 

 of 6.4 inches, at 7 feet from the ground 

 5.1 inches, and an average height of 

 35 feet. Nineteen of the trees are 

 now suitable for telephone poles, i. e., 

 9 or more inches in diameter and 30 

 feet high. 



At Greenfield Hill, Conn., is a mixed 

 plantation of European Larch and 

 White Pine planted 5 by 5 feet each 

 way in equal proportion. The site 

 was rich cultivated land and the 

 growth was correspondingly rapid. 

 Measurements made on 7,509 trees 

 when fifteen years old gave the fol- 

 lowing: Average height, 33.2 feet; di- 

 ameter of average tree, 3.5 inches. Up 

 to the summer of 1901 practically no 

 injury had been done by the sawfly, 

 but that summer the larvae were pres- 

 ent in large numbers and were rapidly 

 defoliating the trees. 



A variety of the common European 

 Larch known as Larix europoea si- 

 b erica is largely grown in central Rus- 

 sia. Prof. N. E. Hansen, of South 

 Dakota, believes that it would be a 

 very desirable tree for our prairie 

 States, as it is much hardier than the 

 common form and much superior to 

 it in many ways. Our commercial 

 growers should introduce this desir- 

 able variety. 





