142 FOKESTS, WOODS, AND TEEES 



trees to the acre, 125 to 135 feet in height (the tallest on 

 record in England), with a total volume of 6430 cubic feet 

 (quarter-girth measurement), equivalent to an average annual 

 increment of 52 cubic feet per acre. If the thinnings, which 

 are unknown, were added, the total yield would be enormous. 

 (See Quarterly Journal of Forestry, iii, 357 (1909).) 



No ordinary plantation would give a yield over its 

 whole area comparable to those recorded above for selected 

 plots. We can count, however, safely on yields of 40 to 

 70 cubic feet per annum per acre in successful plantations. 



Japanese Larch. — This species is remarkable for its 

 extraordinary rapidity of growth when young. Owing to 

 this excessive vigour, it resists the attacks of Peziza, which 

 are most liable to occur between the fifth and fifteenth year. 

 In fact, Japanese larch may be considered to be practically 

 immune from canker disease. It is also, for the same 

 reason, free from serious attacks of insects, like Chermes, 

 Coleophora, and Argyresthia, which injure the common 

 larch. These great advantages, vigour of growth and 

 freedom from disease, are counterbalanced by the fact that 

 Japanese larch tends to grow crooked, and does not develop 

 the beautiful cylindrical stems which characterise well- 

 grown European larch. Plantations of Japanese larch in 

 Scotland over twenty years old show coarse, curved, and 

 crooked stems. The timber is also not so strong as that 

 of the common species ; and when young trees are cut for 

 pitwood the props are not so valuable. 



Japanese larch bears considerably more shade than the 

 European larch ; and when planted four feet apart, it 

 quickly covers the ground, killing the grass very soon and 

 producing an excellent layer of humus. As the stems can 

 be kept close together, this is one of the factors contributing 

 to the great volume of timber produced during youth by 

 this species. Japanese larch is also a very hardy tree, 

 resisting spring frost better than the common species. It 

 also grows fairly well in exposed situations, where European 

 larch would fail completely. It makes, however, only 



