THE CONIFERS 169 



woods should be fairly heavy throughout, underplanting being 

 resorted to, to keep up the fertility of the soil. The timber 

 is usually ripe for the axe at from sixty to eighty years of age, 

 though in favourable situations it can be grown on to much 

 larger size. It is, perhaps, the most valuable timber grown 

 in Great Britain, being used for a great variety of purposes. 

 It suffers considerably from insects and fungi. Of the insects, 

 the worst are the larch aphis (Chermes laricis) y the larch 

 miner moth (Coleophora laricelld], and the larch shoot moth 

 (Argyresthia atmoriella}^ while the sawfly (Nematus Erich- 

 soni) has recently done very serious damage. Of fungi, the 

 worst is the well-known larch canker, Dasyscypha calycina ; 

 this is now found in almost every larch wood in England and 

 may make the cultivation of larch impossible except in the 

 most favourable situations. 

 The Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis). 



A native of Japan, this tree was introduced into Great 

 Britain in 1861. It is of more rapid growth during youth, 

 but when about twenty years old it is overtaken by the 

 common larch. It is a more hardy tree and suffers less from 

 insects and fungi, and it has been said that it is not attacked 

 by the larch canker : this is, however, not the case. It may 

 be treated sylviculturally like the larch. Where larch is grown 

 extensively this species may be substituted for the common 

 larch here and there for pit-props, but it is doubtful whether it 

 will prove such a valuable tree for big timber. 



Of other larches, the Western larch (Larix occidentalis) may 

 prove to be a useful tree, but neither the Kurile larch (Larix 

 curilensis) nor the Siberian larch (Larix siberica] are likely to 

 be of much value for forest growth. 



THE PINES 

 The Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris). 



A native of Scotland and of the countries round the Baltic. 

 It is found up to an elevation of 2, 200 feet in Scotland, but 



