Larix 40 1 



to how seeds could be procured, and Prof. Sargent was good enough to do his best 

 for me. Mr. Leiberg, in 1901, went on purpose to the Flathead Lake country, 

 but found all the seed shed as early as September, and could only send a few seed- 

 lings by post. These heated on the way to England, and though I saved a few of 

 them, they were always sickly, and most of them died before coming into leaf 

 Again I tried through the United States Forestry Bureau, who were also unable 

 to get seed. In 1903, however, I procured a small parcel from Mr. Carl Purdy, and 

 distributed the seed to many arboriculturists in England in 1904. These have 

 germinated fairly well, and I hope that my efforts to make this grand tree better 

 known may succeed. 



The seedlings raised in 1904, from the seed which I distributed, have grown 

 in several places, best perhaps at Murthly, under the care of Mr. Lowrie, where 

 in September 1906 I saw some hundreds thriving very well, though not so large 

 as common larch of the same age. At Walcot, in rather dry soil, they were 6 to 9 

 inches high. At Colesborne they grew slowly, and many were killed or injured 

 in the seedbed by the frost of May 1905 ; but I have just planted out a number 

 which were raised for me by Messrs. Herd of Penrith, and which are 12 to 18 inches 

 high. 



I visited Missoula in June 1904 on purpose to see the tree, and was fortunate 

 enough to do so in company with Prof Elrod of the Montana University, to whom I am 

 greatly indebted for the excellent photographs of the tree here reproduced (Plate 1 1 1). 

 They were taken on the Big Blackfoot river about twenty miles up the valley from 

 Bonner, on the Northern Pacific Railway, where a large sawmill, managed by Mr. 

 Kenneth Ross of the Big Blackfoot Lumber Company, has its headquarters. Guided 

 by this gentleman we reached the logging camp in the Camas prairie and found 

 the larch growing in deep bottom land at about 3500 feet, mixed with Pinus 

 ponderosa and Douglas fir, but far exceeding both of them in size. The tree grows 

 on slopes and in ravines where there is a good depth of soil not liable to dry up, and 

 best on slopes with a north and east aspect, and on the rich detritus at their foot, and 

 along the sides of the river. It differs strikingly from other larches in habit when 

 adult, having very short branches, which are not produced singly or at regular 

 intervals but grow in irregular groups of four or five, starting near together on the 

 trunk. It forms a tall, very narrow column, and as it gets old loses many of its 

 branches. It carries its girth to a great height and is, when grown in a thick forest, 

 sometimes clear of branches for over 100 feet. The tallest tree I have heard of 

 was figured in the Butte Miner of 29th February 1904, and was said to be the 

 largest in Montana, 233 feet high and 24 feet in girth at or near the ground. 

 This tree grew on the Upper Clearwater between Salmon and Seely lakes. It 

 could be seen for miles above the surrounding trees, and must have contained over 

 2000 feet of timber. The best I saw, however, were from 150 to 180 feet in height, 

 with a girth at 5 feet of 10 to 15 feet. 



Frank Vogel, a timber surveyor who has had much experience with this tree, 

 told me that it grew up to 6000 feet elevation on the hills above the Blackfoot river, 

 and that he saw no difference between these trees and those lower down except in 



II 2D 



