140 FAMILIAR TREES 



height ot from eighty to upwards of a hundred feet, 

 and has been known to reach 140 feet, with a dia- 

 meter of from three to five feet; and it is stated 

 sometimes to exceed eighty feet in height in fifty^ 

 years, and to live to an age of from 150 to 200 years. 

 Unlike the Spruce and many other Firs, its growth 

 is rapid from the first, reaching fifteen or twenty 

 feet within twelve years of its being sown, whilst for 

 the first forty or fifty years of its life its average 

 annual increase in girth in Scotland is stated to be 

 from an inch to an inch and a half. 



The Larch Avas not apparently known to the 

 Greeks ; but, being abundant on the Apennines, is often 

 referred to by Pliny, who speaks of the incorruptible 

 and incombustible nature of its timber. Caesar, too, 

 terms it "robusta larix, igni impenetrabile lignum," 

 the fact being that its wood does kindle slowly, 

 instead of blazing up like Pine. The woody fibres 

 being closely interwoven. Larch timber cannot be 

 readily split in a straight line, and, when properly 

 seasoned, is so hard as to be difficult to work. It is, 

 however, difficult to season ; and accordingly, in thin 

 boards, though not liable to crack or to shrink to any 

 great extent, is very prone to warp or twist — a fact 

 which renders it more suitable for use either " in the 

 round " or when merely squared. The heart- wood is 

 reddish brown when grown in a cold situation, and 

 very light in weight, weighing when dry about thirty- 

 six pounds per cubic foot ; but the wood of the richer 

 soils of lowland forests is often of a yellowish white. 

 Owing to the small size of the lateral branches the 

 wood is comparatively free from knots, and those 



