AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 233 



trees which have been favoured there in Britain 

 from time immemorial. 



Owing to its impatience of shade, even of the 

 lightest description by parent standards, artificial 

 regeneration of larch is the rule. Hitherto, in 

 Britain, this has been almost entirely by means 

 of planting; but sowing, either broadcast after 

 ploughing the whole land, or else in rills if 

 the land is only partially prepared in strips for 

 the reception of the seed, seems deserving of 

 a trial as being perhaps cheaper, and certainly 

 more likely to yield a thicker crop. The seed 

 will germinate most freely on the best patches 

 of land, and the blanks and backward spots 

 can be planted up with Corsican or Scots pine, 

 or whatever seems most advisable under the 

 given circumstances. 



To try and obviate the disappointment and 

 loss caused by canker, experiments are being 

 largely made in Britain with the Japanese larch 

 (L. leptolepis, so called from the 'thin scales' 

 on its cones), said to be a very hardy species, 

 and to be almost as rapid in growth and as 

 useful for timber. But it is yet too soon to 

 hazard any definite opinion as to its suitability 



