318 HOW TO GROW GOOD TIMBER. 



forests in Germany, from which it is often introduced 

 into the dwellings of the peasant with fir logs. It is 

 quite as large as the hornet, and much of the same 

 bright colours, but its apparent sting of more than 

 half an inch in length is only an ovipositor, so that 

 that formidable-looking creature is perfectly harmless 

 after all. This tree was nearly twelve feet in circum- 

 ference, at three feet from the ground, in which con- 

 dition its lower drooping branches give the larch a 

 fine picturesque appearance. 



Larches, and,, indeed, the whole of the Coniferce, 

 are best procured for planting from the nursery, and 

 much time will ultimately be saved by planting them 

 as soon after removal as possible, and that by the pit 

 method ; and so done, larch, unlike most other young 

 trees, shoots aAvay at once, and soon allows of thin- 

 ning to profit. 



We now bring this subject to an end, for the want 

 of space ; but we cannot part with friends we love so 

 much without a benediction ; in the words of Cowley 

 then we say, — 



Hail, old patrician trees ! 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 



Plate I. Quercus Robur pedunculata, nat. size, from Oakley Park, 

 Cirencester. 

 Fig. a. Petiole, or leaf-stalk. Fig. b. Peduncle, or fruit-stalk. 



Plate II. Quercus Robur sessiliflora, from Wyre Forest, near 

 Kidderminster. 

 Fig. a. Petiole. Fig. b. Peduncle. 



Note. — The leaf of Quercus Robur scssilifiora has a greater number of divisions 

 than that of Q. Robur pedunculata. These lobes are somewhat more acute at the 

 apex. This and its longer petiole, and general brighter colour of the whole leaf, 

 ives the former tree, when in foliage, a lighter aspect than the latter. 



