42 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



unsuitable in one way or another for extensive planting in almost 

 every part of the country. 



At the outset it may be well to clearly set forth my intention 

 of bringing under your notice, and, as far as I can, in consecutive 

 order as to value, only such Conifers as can from long personal 

 experience be confidently recommended for profitable planting 

 in almost any part of the British Isles. 



The terms " profitable" and "economic" as applied to trees are 

 used here in rather a restricted sense, and refer directly to the 

 quality of the timber produced and to the value of the tree for 

 purposes of shelter. 



(1) The Common Larch {Larix europcEa) has no equal as 

 a profitable timber Conifer in this country, and I make this 

 statement after years of note-taldng and comparison of it with 

 three other Conifers whose merits place them high in the rank 

 of kinds suitable for economic planting. In dealing with the 

 Larch I might well sum up its valuable properties as follows : 

 First, no other Conifer is so valuable in a young state, as the 

 thinnings from eight years old can be profitably utilised for 

 fencing and various other purposes, and this can be said of no 

 other Conifer grown in our woodlands ; at least the durability of 

 the timber would not in any other tree be sufficient to repay 

 the cost of erecting or otherwise converting. Then the Larch 

 is a hardier Conifer than any other I know of, being in this 

 respect quite equal to the Scotch and Austrian Pines, while 

 it will produce timber rapidly on very poor soils, and timber 

 which, on comparison, is of greater durability, besides being 

 cleaner and more easily manipulated than that of any other 

 coniferous tree grown in this country. Another point or two in 

 favour of the Larch may be briefly pointed out. 



Comparatively speaking, the trunk of the Larch is neither 

 knotty nor crooked — points that are much favoured by timber- 

 merchants — and I am not now referring simply to such trees as 

 are grown closely in a plantation, but to isolated specimens, for 

 above all trees the Larch is the one that is least inclined to 

 throw its vigour and substance into the formation of ungainly 

 side -branches. One other point in favour of this valuable tree 

 is that a greater number can be grown to the acre, or, in other 

 words, the number of cubic feet of Larchwood that can be produced 

 from an acre is greater than that of any other Conifer I know. 



