THE ENEMIES OF ENGLISH WOODLANDS 301 



injury, which may or may not shorten the life of the tree, 

 but will certainly lower its market value to some extent. 

 This liability to disease continues until the trees are thoroughly 

 established, which may be in two or three years, or may not 

 occur until the fourth or fifth under adverse conditions and 

 dry summers. But in all cases, with a surface covering of 

 peat, turf, or decaying debris, it may be taken for granted 

 that larch has an uphill task for the first year or two, unless 

 extra trouble has been spent in removing the surface layer, 

 or thoroughly breaking it up at the time of planting. When 

 the trees are eight or ten years of age, and have been able 

 to develop those powerful side roots on which their healthy 

 growth depends, the success or failure of larch plantations 

 principally depends upon the character of the soil and situa- 

 tion. When these are of the right kind, larch usually does 

 well under any circumstances or method of thinning, although 

 the existence of trees which have contracted disease in the 

 earliest stage will still give the plantation a more or less 

 diseased appearance. 



That the above-mentioned conditions cause a great deal 

 of disease in young plantations we are perfectly convinced. 

 Those who doubt that such is the case cannot do better than 

 clear a piece of ground of the overlying turf, peat, etc., as 

 the case may be, and compare the growth and development 

 of the larch planted on such a piece with those growing on 

 ground in its natural condition around them. Watch its 

 growth on a bank of loose earth, or ground with a surface of 

 more or less bare stone or gravel, or on spots where beech 

 or other hardwoods have been growing amongst a cleared-off 

 crop of Scots fir, and where the peaty surface is absent. If 

 these instances are not convincing, so far as they go, then 

 the much greater immunity of such plants from disease must 

 be mentioned as further proof of the reasonable character of 

 the theory. But when the soil or subsoil is unsuitable, either 

 through being too dry and arid, wet and peaty, or through 

 some inimical ingredient in its composition, such as iron, a 

 healthy growth after the first ten years need not be expected. 

 On such soils we cannot expect larch to succeed any better 

 than we can oak in peat-moss or Douglas fir in chalk. Some 

 consideration must be paid to the tastes of the larch if success 



