496 CONIFERS. 



and growth, afford sufficient shelter, or give that imaginary 

 increase of warmth which the thicker and persistent foliage 

 of the Scotch Pine and Spruce Fir are supposed to pro- 

 duce : in this opinion we cannot coincide, as experience has 

 shown us that the oak and other hard-wood trees thrive 

 as well, or perhaps better, under its fostering care, than 

 under that of the evergreen Firs, and this we attribute in 

 a great measure, to that very quality of the Larch which 

 is objected to by its opponents, viz., its deciduous nature ; 

 for, even when deprived of its leaves during winter, it offers 

 a resistance sufficient to break and ameliorate the effect 

 of the winds, affording the degree of shelter required, and 

 at the same time admitting of a freer circulation of air, 

 which contributes essentially to the health and vigour of 

 whatever trees it is meant to protect. Nor do we find 

 that it is more injurious to its companions either by over- 

 topping or more severely lashing them than the evergreen 

 Firs ; indeed, its pyramidal growth and the stiff nature of 

 its stem prevent any excessive motion by the wind, and 

 the smallness and delicacy of its spray, so far from commit- 

 ting equal injury, are much less destructive to its neighbours 

 than those of stronger and stiffer gTO-wth ; neither can we 

 allow the force of the objection, that, by its more vigorous 

 growth, it deprives the soil of what ought to go to the 

 nourishment of the trees to be protected, till it be clearly 

 shown that its roots require and draw from the soil pre- 

 cisely the same pabulum required by the other trees with 

 which it may be associated, — a circumstance, we believe, 

 by no means the case with many of our hard- wood species, 

 and particularly in regard to the oak whose roots run 

 much deeper than those of the Larch. 



The wood of the Larch is not only remarkable for its 

 durability at all ages, but for its strength and tough- 



