LARCH PLANTATIONS. 109 



sold except when the land upon which they stand is 

 sold. The values are usually then determined by the 

 cost of planting. It is different with larch ; these 

 soon reach a commercial value, long before they reach 

 maturity, and are greedily sought after from the first 

 thinnings until finally cleared. No tree, perhaps, 

 grown is so universally useful, or more eagerly 

 inquired for. 



The first thinning will take place in ten or fifteen 

 years, according to soil, site, and distance apart ; and, 

 as we have before stated, in hop districts they will 

 sell from I2s. to 2os. per hundred. 



The next thinning may take place three years later, 

 and the produce be again sold for the same purpose. 

 After this, if the trees grow freely, they will be fit for 

 scaffold poles, and sell as such. Five pounds a 

 hundred is perhaps a fair estimate for this class of 

 larch. From this period until timber size is reached 

 they are usually valued by the hundred, and will reach 

 15, 20, and ^"25, according to size; after this they 

 are probably timber, and will be valued by the cubic 

 foot. 



Before they reach the first thinning i.e., when they 

 are quite young it may be necessary to value them 

 on the sale or purchase of land, and the best course to 

 pursue is to take the cost of planting and add to this 

 the rent, rates, interest on capital, and so forth, for 

 the period which has elapsed since planting. From 

 this, however, should be deducted failures, which may 

 have arisen through neglect or bad judgment. 



On the sale or purchase of land probably nothing 

 is more satisfactory to all parties than the transfer of 



