THE LARCHES 



THERE are three species of Larches (botanically Larix} 

 indigenous to the United States, and two of them are of 

 economic importance. One is mainly confined to the north- 

 ern portion of the Eastern States and the other to the 

 northern portion of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Slope 

 region. The Eastern species is generally known as " Tama- 

 rack," and the Western one as " Larch." The lumber trade 

 has adopted these names, and, to avoid confusion, they are 

 here accepted. 



TAMARACK : Larix laricina 



TAMARACK may be occasionally found in the territory 

 lying between Virginia on the south and Canada on the 

 north, and from western Minnesota on the west to Maine 

 on the east. In the southern portion of its range it is seldom 

 found as a forest tree elsewhere than in swamps, or on quite 

 wet ground bordering swamps and sluggish streams, at a 

 high elevation. Further north it accepts comparatively dry 

 soil, and grows as rapidly as it does in its southern habitat 

 on wet or swampy ground ; but for all that, it is essentially 

 a swamp tree. It is not a rapid grower at its best, even in 

 its most preferred location, and never attains a large size, 

 rarely reaching eighty feet in height or twenty inches in 

 diameter; ordinarily not exceeding sixty feet in height or 

 twelve inches through. It grows to a larger size in Canada 

 than in the United States, as it is substantially a cold- 

 climate tree. In the forest its tendency is to grow tall and 

 slim with a true taper of stem from base to crown, if mis- 

 hap does not occur to its leader, but if that does happen, 

 there is a struggle set up for supremacy and two or more 

 stems will be the result. 



