CONIFERS FOR ECONOMIC PLANTING. 151 



Then the larch is a hardier conifer than any other I know 

 of, being in this respect quite equal to the Scotch and 

 Austrian pines, while it will produce timber rapidly on very 

 poor soils, and timber which, on comparison, is of greater 

 durability, besides being cleaner and more easily manipulated 

 than that of any other coniferous tree grown in this country. 

 The trunk of the larch, comparatively speaking, is neither 

 knotty nor crooked points that are much favoured by 

 timber-merchants and this is not only referring to closely- 

 grown plantation trees, but to isolated specimens, for above 

 all trees the larch is the one that is least inclined to throw its 

 vigour and substance into the formation of heavy side 

 branches. Another point in favour of this valuable tree is 

 that a greater number can be grown to the acre, or, in other 

 words, the number of cubic feet of larchwood that can be pro- 

 duced from an acre is greater than that of any other conifer 

 I know. The durability of the wood of the larch is well 

 known, and as compared with that of either the Scotch ar 

 spruce is about doubly durable. A fence of larch cut from 

 trees of from twenty to twenty-five years' growth will last 

 from seventeen to twenty years, while that of the spruce lasts 

 about nine years, and Scotch fir a shorter period. This refers 

 directly to rails, not to posts, which decay in a much shorter 

 time. For mining and railway purposes the durability of 

 larchwood makes it much sought after, its value being still 

 further enhanced by its extreme lightness, a cubic foot of 

 seasoned wood weighing only 34 lbs. Substitutes for the 

 larch have often been recommended, but in the true sense of 

 the word none can be termed substitutes except, indeed, in 

 the narrowest sense, although, doubtless, some of those whose 

 claims have been set forth might reflect one or more of its 

 valuable qualities, but this is the widest limit of comparison. 

 It is most unfortunate that of late years the larch has, 

 in certain situations and under peculiar circumstances, suffered 

 much from canker and blight ; indeed to such an extent has 

 this fell disease become disseminated throughout Great 

 Britain that future large plantings of the tree are not likely to 



