492 



NOTES AND ILLUSTEATIONS. 



The different kinds of Larch may be most readily distinguished 

 by their cones, (stroMli.) — In the White sort they are oval, and 

 rather better than an inch long. The scales are notched and open, 

 and bent a little backwards at the margin. Independently of the 

 value of the timber, it is v^^ell known that Venice tarpentine is 

 obtained from this tree ; and of late years, in this country, that it 

 has been found to rival the Oak for the tanning of leather. 



2. The Black Larch, (^Larix pendula,^ a species which is more 

 patient of cold than the common sort, and therefore is fitted to the 

 more elevated regions of our island, where it should be associated 

 with the Scotch Fir in clothing them. This sort is a native of 

 Canada, to the northward of the river St Lawrence, in which 

 country it attains the height of eighty and a hundred feet. The 

 cones are much smaller than those of the common kind, and 

 oblong, with their scales incurved in the margin, and not open like 

 the scales of the sort last mentioned. In America, its timber is 

 more highly valued than that of any other coniferous tree, 

 whether for naval or domestic architecture. 



In Forfarshire, we find there are extensive plantations of this 

 noble tree, some of which are already from sixty to seventy feet 

 in height ; but that a practice prevails, which, as Dr Yule well 

 observes, cannot be too strongly reprobated, namely, that of endea- 

 vouring to propagate it by layers, by means of its lower branches, 

 which are extremely pendulous ; a sure method of producing dwarfish 

 and inferior plants of this as of every other species of tree. 



3. The Red Larch ( Larix Tenuifolia, or Macrocarpa.) — This kind 

 has cones of nearly a spherical shape, and only about half an inch 

 long. Being, also, a native of the northern parts of Canada, it is 

 of course sufficiently hardy, and, from its geographical position, well 

 worth cultivating in this country. It is said to have been long 

 since planted at Roseneath and Inverary, by Archibald Duke of 

 Argyle. The Marquis of that name, also, as early as the middle 

 of the seventeenth century, appears to have sent some samples of 

 the seed to Evelyn. — See Silva, vol. i. p. 309. Edit. Hunter. 



Note XX. Page 863. 



Pliny says that Larch wood cannot be ignited any more than 

 stone, although it may be destroyed by fire ; Nec alio modo ignis 

 vi consimitur qudm lapides. — Hist. Nat. lib. xvi. 10. This seems an 

 exaggerated way of putting the case ; but the meaning obviously is, 

 that Larch wood, in large masses, is not easily inflamed — which is 



