THE LARCH. 223 
Planted in straight lines, their massive stems arise like the 
shafts of columns, and taper to the height of upwards of 
eighty feet of measurable timber. Those who have seen the 
larches at Paradise generally reckon them the finest speci- 
mens in Britain. 
I observe from the Court Circular that Her Majesty the 
Queen has just paid a visit to Paradise (October 1866), re- 
turning to Balmoral on the evening of the same day, after 
accomplishing a journey of upwards of ninety miles through 
the hills of Aberdeenshire. 
The larch, in a congenial soil, and under proper treatment, 
has been found to produce a greater quantity of valuable 
timber than any other tree. The great mistake which has 
hitherto attended its cultivation has been a complete disregard 
of the acclimatation of the plant: hence the diversified state 
of the larch plantations throughout Scotland. Some are 
vigorous and profitable, others blighted and half dead, though 
standing in the same description of soil and climate. Indeed, 
acclimatation has hitherto been looked on as a chimera, and 
has been stated to be so by some recent writers on arbori- 
culture, who have supported their opinions by quotations 
from the writings of distinguished men who have fallen into 
error on this subject. They probably never had the oppor- 
tunity of comparing or testing the hardiness of trees of the 
same species, grown from seeds produced by trees in a warm 
country, alongside of those produced from trees inured to a 
far colder climate. (See the article under the head AccLIMA- 
TATION.) This subject is of special importance in the growth 
of larch. Hardiness forms the sure basis of success, and the 
best means of avoiding many of the diseases and casualties to 
which the tree is subject. 
The late King of the Belgians took a lively interest in the 
success of the Belgian larch forests. J have frequently heard 
that during his tour through the north of Scotland, about the 
year 1818 (then Prince Leopold), his remarks on the larch 
plantations in the Highlands awakened among the landowners 
an interest in the tree. His Majesty was aware of the neces- 
