FOREST TREES. 193 
up, bear their fruit, and perish at their feet, without 
showing any symptom of decay. In most cases the 
proprietors of the vineyards are perfectly ignorant of 
the epoch when these props were first placed there; 
they received them in their present state from their 
fathers, and in the same state they will transmit them 
to their sons. Props made of the Silver Fir, and used 
in the same soil for the same purpose, would not last 
more than ten years. In traversing the forests of 
the Alps, I found frequent proofs of the excellence 
of the wood of the Larch. The lightning often 
strikes and shatters these trees, the winds break them, 
and the effects of time cause them to perish by old 
age. All these modes of destruction, and many 
others, made me find a great number of dead and 
mutilated trees in these forests. Those which were 
mutilated had not perished on that account. The 
branches which remained uninjured were still growing 
with vigor; the heart wood was sound and unchanged, 
and the trees continued to live during a long series 
of years. The wood, even of those quite dead, showed 
no signs of decay, and had evidently remained in the 
same state a great number of years. I gathered several 
of the branches, and divided some of the trunks of 
the dead trees, and though some of the branches were 
become so brittle as to break easily with the fingers, 
and the wood of the trunk so ary as to separate into 
scales, neither showed the least signs of rottenness.” 
The Larch is the best of timber for rails, fences 
and out-door fabrics exposed to the weather. It is 
used in the manufacture of carts, wagons, and imple- 
17 
