172 Forty-second Report on the State Museum. [30] 



The wood of the larch is given by Prof. Sargent as "heavy, 

 hard, very strong, durable in contact with the soil ; preferred 

 and largely used for the upper knees of vessels, for ship timbers, 

 fence posts, telegraph poles, railway ties, etc." L' Abbe Provancher, 

 in his notice of the larch saw-fly above cited, in which he regards it 

 as threatening the entire disappearance of this precious tree of the 

 Canadian forests, since from the first notice of the insect in America 

 in 1880, it had already in the year 1885 spread with such remarkable 

 rapidity and destructiveness, that " from Halifax to Ottawa, and per- 

 haps even beyond, there is not to be seen in July and August a single 

 larch having its foliage intact" — has written as follows of this tree 

 and its value : 



It is known that this tree grows in wet or marshy lands, where the 

 soil ordinarily is of poor quality. Among its roots, which it sends 

 out horizontally at a moderate distance from the surface of the 

 ground, there is always to be found, on one side or the other, one that 

 is much larger than the others. It is often said that this tree has but 

 a single root, the others being only ramifications of it. As this root 

 forms a right angle with the trunk, and as the wood is very strong, 

 very slightly brittle, and almost free from decay, it is the prized 

 source for the elbows and knees that enter into naval constructions. 

 In addition to its being an excellent fuel, this wood is also desirable 

 for a multitude of uses, as for boat-bottoms, joists for buildings, 

 fence posts, etc. The larch forms also a very handsome ornamental 

 tree; its elliptical cones of about an inch in length, of a beautiful 

 purplish-violet shade, and ordinarily a great number on the same 

 tree, give a charming effect, when in June they join themselves to the 

 delicate foliage, simulating fringes or sparkling bouquets of so lively 

 a green that the sun seems powerless to change it. And besides the 

 graceful picture that it presents, the tree perfumes all its surround- 

 ings with a resinous odor which is most agreeable. 



Remedies. 



When the larch occurs as isolated trees or in groups of moderate 

 extent, it is an easy task to save its foliage from destruction by the 

 saw-fly larva. The attack of its hosts is quickly noticeable, and if they 

 are then shaken or beaten from the branches they may be crushed 

 under foot or with a roller. Of those that may escape very few will 

 succeed in ascending the trunk, since, although the Nematus larva is 

 bountifully provided with legs, having twenty, while most of the 

 caterpillars of butterflies and moths have but sixteen, yet these 

 organs are not developed to the extent of making them suitable for 

 easy climbing. Or, the worms may be killed by spraying the foliage 

 with Paris green or London purple in water, according to directions 

 so often given. 



