50 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



consideration, the hemlock cannot be recommended in forestry 

 operations, and is doomed to disappear from our forests except 

 when maintained for aesthetic purposes. 



Tamarack {Larix laricina). 



Tamarack is one of our most northerly trees, ranging from 

 Labrador and Newfoundland northwest to Alaska, and south to 

 Ilhnois and Pennsylvania. In New England it is not at all 

 common but is found in many restricted localities, usually on 

 the border of a swamp or the edge of a pond. It does not 

 extend into southern New England, the northern part of Con- 

 necticut being its southern limit. 



It requires more light than most trees, but will live in water 

 and on sour soils. Tamarack is occasionally found on hillsides 

 but very rarely. It is but seldom found on sand, preferring a 

 loam soil. It has a tendency to form pure stands but is 

 often mixed with balsam, birch, spruce, and cedar. The root 

 system is shallow but very compact. 



Tamarack grows rapidly on well-drained soils, but very 

 slowly on the average swampy site. It seeds abundantly and 

 is a good reproducer especially on abandoned fields. The seed 

 germinates well in pasture grass or on the moss-covered soils of 

 swamps. 



The tamarack is our only deciduous conifer. 



Many years ago the tamarack was practically destroyed by 

 the worm of the larch sawfiy which eats the foliage. For this 

 reason it is seldom that one finds a large, live tamarack although 

 dead specimens two feet in diameter are common. Of late years, 

 however, the sawfiy has not been abundant and the tamarack 

 is again prospering; in many places it is encroaching on old 

 pastures. 



Its wood is durable and strong and is used for posts, poles, 

 railroad ties, and in ship building. In early times it was trans- 

 ported in large quantities from Maine to England for the last 

 purpose. Wherever it occurs it should be encouraged. 



