pi'evalent in Larch Plantations. 553 



arboriculture: in short, to draw the attention of some able 

 arboriculturist to the subject, and, if possible, induce the pro- 

 prietors of woods to take into their serious consideration 

 what so immediately concerns their interests. 



Since the introduction of larch to this country, somewhere 

 between 1730 and 1740, I conceive that three eras have 

 occurred. First, the introduction of it; tiien its occupancy 

 of a situation in the garden and the shrubbery ; and, lastly, 

 its general use in plantations. The first are what may 

 be termed the original larches ; and, so far as I know, 

 disease has not been observed in any one of them. Under 

 the second era, commencing about seventy years ago, the 

 hardy nature of the tree came to be better understood. At 

 this period, it was partially diffused over the country on 

 select spots : among these trees prevails the disease called 

 pumping, and it will be found to exist, in various degrees of 

 extent, in every district of the country where such plantations 

 are. But the most unfortunate era for larch seems to be the 

 third, commencing from twenty-five to thirty years ago, when 

 the mania for cheap and seedling planting spread over the 

 island. The hardy constitution of the larch having been 

 fully ascertained, it was planted out from the seed-bed in 

 millions, in every soil and situation. Amongst these plants a 

 still more malignant distemper presents itself, threatening 

 entire destruction to the species. This disease somewhat re- 

 sembles the canker in apple trees : first a branch gives way ; 

 then a black liquid issues from the point of union with the 

 trunk, the regular ascension of the sap seems to be im- 

 peded, and the alburnum is disposed in rather large quan- 

 tities on each side of the affected part, which gives the tree a 

 very unsightly and gibbous appearance. In many plantations 

 of this neighbourhood, few trees which belong to what I have 

 termed the third era have escaped. Here the most partial 

 observer cannot fail being forcibly struck with the fact, that 

 the health of our larch plantations, of the diffei'ent periods or 

 eras which I have marked out, has taken a decidedly progres- 

 sive turn for the worse : hence the prevalent idea that larch, 

 in this country, has degenerated by continued seminal pro- 

 creations. 



In the case of canker in fruit trees which are cultivated 

 for fruit only without regard to timber, the attempt to cure 

 or arrest the disease is rational ; but any attempt to cure 

 canker in larch, by external application, would, in fact, be an 

 approximation to the labours of an old public acquaintance, 

 Mrs. Partington. The only thing that can be done is to 

 prevent ; which, in almost all cases, is much easier than to 

 cure : and I hold the opinion, at present, that prevention is far 



