this suhjvvt we refer to the history of the larch plantations at Atliol and 

 Dunkeld, Driven at tin- end ot'this article. 



Thinning tint! 1'rnnin'^. \\ here the object is timber of large sixe, the trees 

 oiuht to he thinned out soon alter the branches at the lower part of the 

 trunk interfere with one another to such an extent as to destroy all vegeta- 

 tion on the surface of the ground beneath them ; but, where they are intended 

 for pole-, fencing, or other minor country purposes, they ought to be allowed 

 to stand thick, so as to be draun up clean, slender, and straight. De Can- 

 doile thinks the plantations of larches in Britain much too close. The 

 trees are generally at the distance of .'> ft. or 4 ft. from each other, which 

 is much closer than the Continental practice ; and he recommends double, 

 or even triple, that distance. Air and light would thus penetrate better 

 amoni: the trees, and would correct the defects arising from the want of 

 evaporation, and the decomposition of the carbonic acid. You should not, 

 he adds, u be:, r in planting at the distance of 10 ft. ; but you should begin thin- 

 111111: out gradually, so as to bring your trees to the distance of 10 ft. apart 

 \\lien -^0 years old. Considering the atmospherical circumstances of Britain, 

 larch trees should be at a greater distance than they are in Switzerland, 

 and vet thev are at considerably less; he therefore strongly recom- 

 mends thinning; and this recommendation, he says, is supported by the 

 judgment of the most judicious observers, vi/., M. De Charpentier and 

 Kmmanuel Thomas (the latter a nurseryman and seed dealer at Berg, in the 

 Canton de Vaud, and the former the author of a work on the Pyrenees). 

 These persons propose the distance of 15 ft., instead of I Oft., from observing 

 what takes place in the Alps, where the larches generally make forests very 

 far from close, ((l/inrt. Jour//. <>J' Airr., vol. v. p. -1-Of). ; and Jii'i/. L'nir. dc 

 (rcnt-rc, Feb. Is.'i/j.) Very little pruning is required lor the larch. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Sang, the pruning of larch trees growing in masses, and intended 

 to attain a timber-like sixe, should be commenced about the sixth year of 

 their growth; and no more than one, or at the most tut), tiers of branches 

 should be- removed at a time, otherwise the trees will be much retarded in 

 their growth. Alter this, a tier of branches may be cut off' annually, taking 

 care that, in all larches ^0 \ears old and upwards, not more than two thirds 

 of the trunk should be clear of branches. The branches should be cut oil' 

 close to the stem, in order that the \\ound may be speediK healed over by 

 the bark. The time of pruning is the u inter season, when the sap is in its 

 least active .state. The larch trees at Dunkeld seem scarcely to have been 

 pruned at all; and, indeed, the tree having naturally only small branches, 

 \\ hich never attain a timber sixe, less pruning is required for it in a state of art 

 than for any other trees, except, perhaps, the spruce and the silver firs. Mr. 

 I'onte\ has shown, in In- /' /<</ I'n/n<r. ed. }-.. p. 7 1 ., In a diagram, of which 

 //A-. -^-^ >.'). is a reduced co\ , that even the dead branches of the larch, when 



r 

 ' , 



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"i?^^^ 



; 1 " /' / / ' 



fflf! Ifl i 



rnelo-ed in the trunk of a tree, remain sound in it ; and, consequently \\hen 

 the v. nod i^ sa\\ n up into boards, it does not produce rotten knots, as is 

 frcfjiiently the case v. hen dead branches have been enclosed by i^rowinif over 

 in the evergreen //bietina 1 ; and as always happen^ in similar ca.se.s with the 

 common broad-leavt d trees. /'/^'. :^:^(i.>. represints a jtiece of larch board, 

 '.iken from the root cml of a tree a.boyc :i It. in diameter: n slious he cor-- 



