CHAP. CXI1I. CONl'FERiE. LA^RIX. 2391 



and larger branches being permitted to remain for a" considerable time, they 

 will, during that period, have deposited a large quantity of leaves for the 

 nourishment of the ground below. The first thinning will be of such value as 

 to compensate for the great labour of performing it, when it is thus long de- 

 layed ; and it could not have been so long delayed, had the trees been planted 

 thicker. The duke seems to be aware that the opinions of many planters, 

 and many practical ones too, run counter to the practice of thin planting, as 

 recommended by him ; but it is questionable whether any of them has had the 

 experience of rearing larch to the height of from 700 ft. to 1G00 ft. above the 

 sea. At that elevated region, it appears to the duke proper to follow the 

 dictates of experience, rather than those of custom ; and, though he may him- 

 self have, perhaps, at first adopted it from necessity, arising from a difficulty 

 of obtaining plants, he continued it when that necessity no longer existed, 

 because he had seen the good effects arising from it. Thin as 2000 plants 

 may appear on an acre, they will only stand 5 ft. 3 in. apart." 



The Process of the Thickening of the Soil by the Larch is one very important 

 in its results ; and we have already given it in p. 2373. 



Comparative Effect of the Larch with other Trees in improving the Soil. " In 

 oak copses, the value of the pasture is only 5s. or 6s. per acre for 8 years only 

 in every 24 years, when the copse is cut down again. Under a Scotch pine 

 plantation, the grass is not worth Qd. more per acre than it was before it was 

 planted. Under beech and spruce it is worth less than it was before ; but the 

 spruce affords excellent shelter to cattle, either from the heat of summer or 

 the cold of winter. Under ash, the value may be 2s. or 3s. per acre more 

 than it was in its natural state ; but under larch, where the ground was not 

 worth Is. per acre, the pasture is worth from Ss. to 10s. per acre, after the first 

 30 years, when all the thinnings have been completed, and the trees left for 

 naval purposes, at the rate of about 400 to the acre, and 12 ft. apart." 



Thinning. " The great object of the late duke seems to have been to raise 

 larch timber on his property fit for naval purposes. With that view, he 

 planted his trees, and thinned his plantations. No demand for wood for mere 

 country purposes would have warranted him to plant so extensively as he did. 

 He found that larches could grow to a great size at only 12 ft. apart ; and this 

 distance gives 380 trees to the Scotch acre, which is little more than one fifth 

 part of the 2000 per acre originally planted. The first thinning should be a 

 slight one, of about one fifth of the whole, by removing only those trees that 

 are of least value, or worthless. After 24 years from the time of planting, the 

 leaves fall off the lower branches, which are, of course, no longer useful to the 

 soil below. From 20 to 30 years old, the thinning is carried on so exten- 

 sively as to remove two thirds of those trees which were left standing by 

 the first thinning. In thinning, it is necessary to observe that all the strongest 

 and healthiest trees should be left, even if two or three of them should be 

 closer together than 12 ft. These small clumps happening to light on a 

 favourable situation, they will thrive well, as the air has access to each tree, 

 around two thirds of its circumference. This thinning being delayed so long, 

 the trees thinned out will be valuable for a variety of purposes. One of these 

 purposes is the profitable use which may be made of the bark. The last thin- 

 ning should be given when the trees are from 30 to 35 years old, which will 

 leave from 380 to 400 trees per acre. The 380 will require a little pruning 

 and trimming of the lower branches, in order to give head room to the cattle 

 which are to browse on the grass below. The whole prunings and thinnings 

 will cost about 5/., and their produce will fetch about 12/., leaving a profit on 

 them of about 71. an acre." 



Planting the Scotch Pine along with the Larch. "The rapid growth of the 

 young larch trees, even in exposed situations, is certainly matter of surprise. 

 This property convinced the late duke of the inutility of providing nurses for 

 them. His gardener, Alexander Macrostie, whose name as a planter the 

 duke mentions with approbation, and who was at the head of all His Grace's 

 plantations, thought proper, during the duke's absence, to fill up with Scotch 



