PRACTICAL SUGGi:STIONS UPON TREE-PLANTING. 59 



Failures have often been encountered in transplanting the larch, by- 

 overlooking the important principle that the top should bear a corre- 

 sponding relation in its leaves to the root in its radicles. Many of the 

 hitter are necessarily torn off with the most careful transplanting, and 

 it is a safe rule to shorten the branches in a corresponding degree. The 

 larch should be planted early in the season. 



THE ASn AND THE LAKCH. 



In an article by Mr. Arthur Bryant,^ on the ash and the larch, he 

 mentions the white ash as one of the most important timbers in the 

 Northern States, and concerning the difficulty of raising from seed he 

 says: 



If the seed be sown soon after gathering from the tree, without drying, it will come 

 up well in the spring ; but if dried, a great part will often fail to vegetate the first 

 year, even if kept through the whiter in damp sand. Care must be taken not to 

 cover too deeply. Probably forest trees, as well as others, often fail from this cause; 

 When self-sown, they have no other covering than leaves, or a little earth when con- 

 cealed by mice or squirrels. If sown in autumn , ash-seed should be covered with lit- 

 ter during winter, to jirevent washing out by rains. 



It seems very probable that the seed of the green ash is as often gathered and sown aa 

 that of the white. The green ash is common along streams in the West. It producos 

 seed more frequently than the white ash, and upon small trees, and is, therefore, more 

 easily collected. The seed vegetates with more certainty than that of the white ash, 

 even if sown dry; aud the young trees grow more rapidly for the first year or two. 

 When in leaf, it may easily be distinguished from the white ash. The timber is sim- 

 ilar in quality, but it has the disadvantage of never becoming a large tree. The white 

 ash is somewhat variable in its characteristics, and some of these variations have 

 formerly been named and described by botanists as permanent varieties, or even spe- 

 cies. It belongs to northern latitudes, and only obtains its fullest development in 

 colder climates than that of Northern Illinois. The blue ash abounds in more south- 

 ern latitudes than the white ; it is in every respect as valuable, and has the advantage 

 of being more durable. The combination of strength, lightness, aud elasticity in ash 

 limber renders it superior to any other native wood for many purposes, and the de- 

 mand for it must always be extensive. 



Much has been said and written in praise of the European larch ; but,-neverthelegs, 

 little if any notice has been taken of its peculiar fitness for railro.Td ties. [The 

 writer highly commends this timber for this use, citing English authorities. It grows 

 rapidly, closely, and in fifteen years becomes 50 feet high and 8 to 12 inches in diam- 

 eter. It should never bo planted on wet land.] The American larch has been eulo- 

 gized as fully equal to the European in durability. Michaus describes it as having tie 

 same properties. In the British Provinces north of the Saint Lawrence, and in New- 

 foundland, where it is highly esteemed, it grows upon upland, forming large masses of 

 forest. In the United States it is found only in swamps— never on upland; a fact 

 which Michaux regards as evidence that the climate of the northern limits of the Uoited 

 States is too mild for its constitution. From all the testimony the writer has been able 

 to collect from those who have used it, it appears that when grown in swamps, ia the 

 United States, it is by no means remarkably durable ; whether this is owing to soil 

 or climate, is a matter of uncertainty. The European larch is found principally in the 

 central and southern parts of Europe, and is therefore better suited to the climate of 

 Northern Illinois than the American species, which reaches perfection only in j» much 

 colder climate, and is, likewise, of slower growth. 



LAECn PLANTATIONS OF THE DUKE OF ATHOL. 



The plantations of larch by the Duke of Athol have been often men- 

 tioned, and were begun in 1728. Between 1740 and 1750, James, then 

 bearing this title, planted over 1,200 larch trees aS an experiment ; the 

 tree being then new in Scotland. In 1759, he planted 700 more, mixed 

 with other kinds, on a hill-side very poor and stony, and with good re- 

 sult. His successor, John, first conceived the idea of planting the larch 

 to the exclusion of other kinds, and covered four hundred acres of sterile 



' Transac. of Michigan Pomological Society, 1873, p. 43U. 



