16 SYLVA FLOHIPERA. 



the year 1741, the largest of which, in 1796, 

 measured, at one foot eight inches from the 

 ground, eleven feet eleven inches in circum- 

 ference, and at twelve feet from the ground, 

 eight feet two inches, at twenty-four feet the 

 circumference was seven feet seven inches ; at 

 which time some of the younger larches mea- 

 sured upwards of one hundred feet in height. 

 These plants were originally sent from Lon- 

 don in earthen pots, rather as a curiosity than 

 from any expectation of their excellency; but 

 they may now overlook whole forests of this 

 timber, of which they have been the parent 

 plant. 



' The larch having been ascertained to be of 

 a hardy nature and quick growth, thriving 

 better on a poor hungry soil than in a rich 

 earth, and the utility of the timber being uni- 

 versally acknowledged, these considerations 

 induced the Society for the Encouragement 

 of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, at 

 London, to offer both honorary and pecuniary 

 rewards for the propagation of this tree ; and 

 as long back as 1788, three gold medals and 

 a premium of thirty pounds had been be- 

 stowed by the Society for planting larches, 

 and giving an account of the wood; and there 

 is every prospect that the encouragement 

 given by that Society will be the means of 



