CHAPTER XXXI. 



LARCHES. 



THE LARCH TREE (Abies Larix). 



THIS is a deciduous tree, and is considered by many 

 eminent botanists to be of the same genus as the Spruce ; 

 the leaves grow in clusters and spread out in a brush or 

 mop-like form, and in the spring, when quite fresh, they 

 have a beautiful light-green tint, which make them very 

 remarkable among other trees. The cones are of an 

 oblong shape, and somewhat blunt. 



The Larch is a native of the European Alps and the 

 Apennines, and is found abundantly in Russia and in 

 Siberia. It thrives in dry, elevated, and almost barren 

 land, and for this reason is perhaps the most profitable 

 tree that can be planted in a poor soil. It grows at 

 about the same rate, in such situations, as the Finns 

 sylvestris does in more fertile localities, making i inch 

 of wood in about 5^ years, or 2 feet in diameter in about 

 130 years (vide Table II., p. 18). 



In Scotland it has been planted by the Duke of 

 Athol and others in immense quantities, and it has been 

 stated that at elevations of upwards of 1,500 feet above 

 the sea level, trees have been felled when only eighty years 

 old that have yielded each from five to six loads of 



