^itli Reference to the Climate of North Britain. 165 



from thence into moorland, as the larch. Seldom does a speci- 

 men of this tree arrive at the age of twenty years without 

 producing several crops of cones ; and it is not uncommon for a 

 tree of that age to yield, in one season, seeds sufficient to raise 

 several thousand plants. The larch, when young, is also re- 

 markable for its readiness to strike root into the ground imme- 

 diately on being transplanted ; so much so, that in no degree is 

 its growth interrupted if planted in a suitable soil. Hence, a 

 plant of the age of three years, having been twice removed, is 

 frequently as large and vigorous as one of the same age which 

 has grown under any other circumstances. These are properties 

 which, in Britain, we cannot yet ascribe to any other timber 

 tree, either indigenous or foreign. 



The most useful tree in Scotland is, without doubt, the native 

 Highland pine. The larch ranks next to it, and although the 

 timber of the latter, from its liability to warp, will never be in 

 general use for flooring or many other purposes of the carpenter, 

 yet its rapidity of growth, and fitness for ship-building at so 

 early an age, render its cultivation in proper soil more profitable 

 than that of any other tree. 



When time shall have tested the numerous species of Hima- 

 layan and American pines now new to this country, some of 

 them may be found as famous for timber as they now are for 

 ornament. Of the former, the most beautiful, as well as the 

 most promising in our northern regions, i& the Cedrus Deoddra. 

 Seedling plants of this tree grow here in the open ground to the 

 height of 4 or 5 inches during the first summer, and resist the frosts 

 of winter, auguring well of their future prosperity. In the shires 

 of Inverness and Ross, where it is considered to be quite hardy, 

 there are several fine specimens of this tree. Its figure is that 

 which is best adapted to a mountainous district, well furnished 

 with branches from the surface of the ground upwards, and 

 tapering into a conical form. The leaves of vigorous trees are 

 of a silvery green, of the most delicate shades, whilst the entire 

 tree is rendered graceful from the young branches being pen- 

 dulous. At a distance, its outline and appearance may be com- 

 pared to spray falling around the column of some ornamental 

 fountain ; in short, it is altogether different in its habit from any 

 other evergreen tree grown in our climate. By the Hindoos it 

 is considered sacred ; and, according to Dr. Royle, it is the most 

 celebrated ligneous production of the country to which it be- 

 longs. 



The Pinus excelsa is a native of the same part of the world, 

 and young plants grown here appear quite suited to the climate. 



Pinus ponderosa, a native of North America, grows in the 

 North of Scotland with great vigour, and resists the severest 

 frosts ; but all the older specimens in this quarter have become 



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