LARCH FIR PLANTATIONS. 197 



through the light soil ; and the situation being upon 

 a slope, there was a continual circulation of mois- 

 ture passing along upon the top of .the sub-soil, or 

 clay. In short, I have found good larch timber 

 growing upon almost all varieties of soil; but I 

 never found it upon one which had not its particles 

 constantly cleansed by the continual circulation of 

 water passing through it, either by natural advan- 

 tages or by artificial drainage. Upon the other 

 hand, in all cases of diseased larch plantations, 

 where the trees have become stunted and rotten in 

 the hearts prematurely, we will find that the soil 

 has either been badly drained, or not drained at all^ 

 There must be ingredients lodging in the soil, which 

 act against the health of larch trees growing upon 

 it, and which can alone be carried off by an effective 

 system of drainage, in order to make it fit for the 

 healthy rearing of larch. 



In a plantation on a level piece of ground upon 

 the estate of Arniston, I had occasion to cut down 

 some larches, in the Avay of thinning ; the plan- 

 tation is about forty years old, and consists of a 

 mixture of larch and Scots firs. Upon cutting a 

 number of larch trees in the central parts of this 

 plantation, I found them without exception all 

 rotten in the heart, which was exactly what I anti- 

 cipated, for the soil had never been drained ; and 

 upon cutting some trees upon one side of the plan- 

 tation which formed a sloping sandy bank, I found 



