2391- ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



Loads, ft. 



JOO larch trees, at 64 years old, would give 1 load per tree, = 100 

 100 _ 68 1 =100 



102 72 1 10 ft., = 122 10 



302 trees, at an average of 68 years old, would give - 322 10 



It is said that 3000 loads of timber are required to build a 74-gun ship. 

 Ten acres, therefore, of larch would easily supply that quantity. Now, an 

 English acre will only grow 40 oaks at 34 ft. apart, the distance required for 

 their growth ; and, allowing oak to yield a load of timber at 68 years of age, 

 that would only yield 40 loads of timber per acre ; or, in other words, it would 

 require 75 English acres to supply the requisite quantity of oak to build a 

 74-gun ship. 



Accidents and Diseases. " The larch, like other trees, is liable to accidents 

 and diseases. Wind may drive them down by the roots, but it can very sel- 

 dom break them, which shows the toughness of the wood. In November, 

 1826, a hurricane was very fatal to the Scotch fir, and it tore up many larches 

 by the roots. The depredations committed by wild animals are sometimes 

 considerable, such as those done by red deer, the roe, hares, rabbits, and even 

 the black game. Fences of good stone walls will certainly form a powerful 

 barrier against the inroads of all these creatures; but still they find an entrance 

 into the woods by gateways, and such like openings, for the sake of shelter. 

 The red deer but seldom leave their more herbaceous pasture about Blair ; but 

 the roe deer commit considerable depredations about Dunkeld, insomuch that 

 war was obliged to be declared against them in 1816 ; and in that season, 170 

 were brought in dead; and others, dying from wounds, would swell the number 

 of slain, that season, to upwards of 200. Before 1774, the roe deer were not 

 known to exist nearer than 30 miles to Dunkeld ; and then they were scarce 

 any where ; but, since they have received shelter and protection from the nu- 

 merous young plantations, they have increased very fast in numbers. Their 

 habits are peculiar : they always go in herds of odd numbers, from 3 to 9. 

 The doe generally produces two at a birth, and can rear them easily : but one 

 or both of the fawns are often destroyed by the foxes. The weight of a good 

 buck with the skin, but without entrails, is 40 Ib. ; that of a doe from 32 Ib. to 

 38 Ib. The principal mischief committed by them is by the buck rubbing his 

 horns between two trees, to get rid of the velvet which covers them. A dozen 

 of trees may be seen at one view, of from 7 to 8 years of age, completely 

 stripped round of their bark. Both the buck and the doe eat the tops of the 

 young larch. Hares and rabbits, but particularly the former, appear to be 

 seized with an idle but mischievous curiosity to taste the tops of a new plant- 

 ation in its first year's growth, though they never eat the tops they nip off. 

 Not destroying for the gratification of hunger, their depredations are the more 

 extensive. * Black game, too, nip off the tops of young plants for a year or 

 two, but they never eat them. Plantations above 700 ft. of elevation are only 

 annoyed by the deer. 



Larch Slight. "Previously to the year 1795, a blight (occasioned byan insect) 

 affected the larch, and of those in low situations many died. At that time the 

 frost was very severe, and heavy frosty fogs hung about the trees in spring. 

 After this phenomenon, the blight appeared. Trees above 30ft. in height, 

 and in high situations, escaped this affection, where the wind could shake them. 

 This blight destroyed the flower of the larch, and prevented the formation of 

 the seed, and consequently the propagation of the plant. The first appear- 

 ance of the blight was indicated by a substance on the larch, resembling small 

 balls, of a fine white matter like cotton. These balls, or nidi, enclosed small 

 insects, a species of aphis, the two sexes of very different appearance. They 

 appeared to live upon the juices exuding from the bark of the tree, and not 

 upon the leaves ; and they probably prevented the sap from ascending, at least 

 no fresh shoots were thrown out by the tree that season. Many trees were 

 much injured by this disease ; and, fora long time afterwards, they presented a 

 remarkable appearance, that of being completely covered over with lichens. 



