CHAPTER XXvV. 
LARCHES. 
The Black Larch, or Tamarack. —Its Singular Beauty, Attainable 
Height, and Appearance. —Its Range of Growth. —Soil Suited 
to its Growth, with Difference of Opinion.—Its Durability and 
Usefulness.—A Practised Fraud Unearthed.—The European Larch. 
—Its Attainable Height, Range, Rate of Growth, and General Con- 
tour.—Its Ornamental and Timber Excellence.— Durability and 
Uses of its Wood.—Larch-growing in England and Scotland. — 
Ages of Maturity. —Foreign Testimony on its Durability. — Its 
Adapted Uses.— Places Favorable to its Propagation.— Where to 
Select and Obtain Seed.—Mr. Thomas Lake’s Experience in Grow- 
ing Larch. 
THE BLACK LARCH, OR TAMARACK. 
Tus singularly beautiful tree grows to the height of 
from ninety to one hundred feet, with a diameter of 
from two to three feet. It is perfectly straight, with 
leaves of a light-bluish color. It grows as far north as 
Hudson’s Bay, but is found in the United States in only 
swampy soil. I, for one, cannot understand this, as in 
British America it thrives in almost any soil. It is a 
very strong and durable wood, and among our most 
valuable for timber and rafter-beams; uprights made of 
it are said to last a great length of time. 
It is a handsome and a very ornamental tree. That 
which grows the farthest north is far superior to our 
swamp-growing species. 
Some unsophisticated horticulturists have been swin- 
dled into buying the black larch as the European spe- 
cies—a deception that is very easy of accomplishment 
with those not acquainted with the different varieties of 
trees. 
