The Larch. 



ing^ of getting out of the cone, or of sowing the seed ; 

 whether as to the manner of removing the plants into the 

 nm'sery, of putting them in plantations, of managing 

 them in those plantations, of thinning them out into the 

 plantations, or finally as to cutting them down as timber, 

 every thing said under the head of " The Fir," is equally 

 applicable here ; and, therefore, I have only to request the 

 reader to turn back to what has been said under that head. 



313. But there is one use to which Larches are put, and 

 to w^hich the Fir can scarcely ever be applied ; namely, 

 that of Hop-Poles, of which it makes not bad ones, when 

 the tree has attained a height, so as to make it about an 

 inch and a half through at twenty feet from the ground. 

 This pole is said to last as long as that of the Ash ; but it 

 has the fault which I mentioned under the head of Chesnut, 

 that of being too big at the butt in proportion to its height. 

 I am so decidedly of opinion that it is far more profitable 

 to plant Ash for this purpose, and more especially the Lo- 

 cust, as we shall see by and by, that I do not recommend 

 the planting of Larch for the making of Hop-Poles, If 

 planted for that purpose, however, the plants should not 

 stand at more than three feet apart, and should be kept 

 pruned up on the sides, as directed for the Fir and the 

 Chesnut, these being the means of keeping the butt of the 

 pole nearer proportioned in size to the point of it. But the 

 disadvantage of employing ground in this way, for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining poles, must be evident to every one who 

 considers that, at three feet apart, an acre will contain only 

 4480 poles ; that the Ash or the Locust wlW, if you please, 

 contain just the same number at the first crop; and 

 that the Larch, when once cut down, never shoots again ; 

 while the Ash or the Locust will give you, in all probability, 

 from ten to twenty thousand poles out of the stems which 



