510 CON1FEK.E. 



as a nurse, or intermediate occupant, to be thinned out 

 as the hard wood advances to maturity, than to stand 

 till it becomes the principal crop of timber ; and as there 

 are few situations, in the champaign parts of the kingdom, 

 where the Larch retains its soundness when aged and of 

 large size, it is the best and most profitable plan that can 

 be adopted, as no tree, at a similar age, makes so large 

 a return as the Larch. The proportion of Larch to be 

 planted in mixed plantations must, in a great measure, 

 be regulated by the soil, as well as by the kinds of trees 

 with which it is associated, and in relation to which it 

 is to be considered as holding a sudsidiary station ; thus, 

 in ground where the Larch is liable to be attacked by 

 heart-rot at an early age, or before it is twenty years 

 old, the quantity may be less, than upon soils where the 

 disease does not appear so early or where the tree remains 

 sound till it has acquired maturity. Speaking generally, we 

 should say that from a half to two thirds of the whole 

 number of trees planted would be a proper proportion of 

 Larch, as the thinnings of this tree, even upon ground even- 

 tually producing heart-rot, are, from the various uses to 

 which they can be applied from an early age, much more 

 valuable than those of the Firs, or any species of hard wood. 

 The thinning of Larch plantations, where large timber 

 for naval and other important works is the ultimate 

 object, requires much attention and considerable judgment 

 in the execution, as the size and cleanness, and conse- 

 quently the ultimate value of the wood, in a great measure 

 depend upon the mode in which this operation is executed. 

 If long deferred, or neglected during the early growth of 

 the trees, they are apt to be drawn up weak and slender, 

 in consequence of the early and rapid death of the lower 

 branches, from the deprivation of the necessary quantity 



