1 42 I IRITIS 1 1 FOREST TREES 



beyond its indigenous northern limit, it prefers a damp 

 insular climate, as in Scotland, Denmark, and Norway, 

 rather than a dry one like that of north-eastern Germany, 

 and does best on warm exposures that are not apt to be 

 dried up by sun or wind. 



As might be expected from the formation of the root- 

 system, depth is the first quality demanded by the larch 

 from any soil. Light, stony, moderately fresh mountain- 

 soil suits it best on the whole, but a slight degree of 

 tenacity is more favourable than the tendency to the 

 opposite extreme often exhibited by sandy soils. In its 

 Alpine home it is frequently found in excellent growth 

 where boulders and stones cover the ground, provided 

 that there is between them a fairly good deposit of humose 

 soil, and that the penetration of the roots into the sub-soil 

 is not hindered. As in the case of the Scots pine, 

 constant equable distribution of moisture throughout soil 

 and subsoil is the condition most favourable for the growth 

 of the larch ; but though making greater demands than the 

 pine, its requirements in this respect are not so great as 

 those of the spruce. Wet soils, more especially when 

 tenacious, are not suited to it, but still less suitable are those 

 of a dry description. 



As to mineral strength, its demands are certainly some- 

 what greater than those made by the spruce, although soil- 

 moisture and depth are of greater importance to it than 

 richness in mineral constituents. Loamy limes are 

 exceedingly favourable to its growth, also the loamy soils 

 arising from the decomposition of granite, basalt, clay- 

 slates, and dolomite, whilst loamy sands, apart from their 

 greater freshness, seem also to suit it better than sandy or 

 limy soils either in the valleys, or on the uplands. The 

 greatest claims are made on mineral strength where the 

 larch is grown away from its indigenous region, and trans- 



