208 SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



Ben Jonson speaks of the gum or the turpentine of the 

 Larch, as being used in witchcraft, as Hemlock, Night- 

 shade, &c. : A witch answers her companions 



" Yes, I have brought (to help your vows) 

 Horned- poppy, cypress-boughs, 

 The fig-tree wild, that grows on tombs, 

 And juice that from the larch-tree comes, 

 The basilisk's blood, and the viper's skin : 

 And now, our orgies let's begin *." 



Lucan includes the " gummy Larch," among the 

 articles burned to drive away serpents (. 



Larch has of late been applied to the purpose of ship- 

 building, and with success. Some think that it will, in 

 time, supersede the Norway fir. In proportion as this 

 timber is found useful, it must become profitable, and 

 consequently plantations of Larch will be likely still to 

 spread ; to the great annoyance, as it appears, of Mr. 

 Wordsworth. He seems to have a strange dislike to this 

 fine tree. " Larch and fir plantations,"" says he, " have 

 been spread, not merely with a view to profit, but in 

 many instances for the sake of ornament. To those who 

 plant for profit, and are thrusting every other tree out of 

 the way to make room for their favourite, the Larch, I 

 would utter first a regret that they should have selected 

 these lovely vales for their vegetable manufactory, when 

 there is so much barren and irreclaimable land in the 

 neighbouring moors, and in other parts of the island, 

 which might have been had for this purpose at a far 

 cheaper rate. And I would also beg leave to represent 

 to them that they ought not to be carried away by flat- 

 tering promises from the speedy growth of this tree ; be- 



* Masque of Queens. t See Howe's Lucan, book ix. 



