LAR 
and when the bed is much expofed to the fen, the 
furface of the ground will dry fo faft, as to require to 
have water very often, which frequently rots the tender 
ftems of the plants ; which will be prevented by pro- 
perly fhading them while young, and afterward they 
will be in no danger. Thefe young plants Ihould be 
conftantly kept clean from weeds, and if they have 
made good progrefs, they may be tranfplanted the 
following autumn, otherwife they may remain in the 
feed-bed another year, efpecially if the plants are not 
too clofe together. When they are tranfplanted, it 
fnould be performed in the autumn as foon as their 
leaves decay •, they may be planted in beds at about 
fix inches afunder each way, which will be diftance 
enough for the growth of the plants the two following 
years, by which time they will be lit to tranfplant 
where they are to remain. 
When the young trees are planted out for good, they 
need not be more than eight or ten feet diftant from 
each other, always planting them clofer on expofed 
fituations, than where they are more defended ; after 
the trees are planted, they will require no other care 
but to keep them clean from weeds for three or four 
years till the trees have obtained ftrength, when they 
will over-top the weeds and prevent their growth ; 
but the ground between thefe trees Ihould not be 
dug, for that I have found has greatly flopped their 
growth. 
The Siberian Larch is of flow growth in this country, 
for when the fpring is mild, the trees will begin to 
Ihoot in February, or early in March ; and there are 
frequently fharp frofts after, whereby thefe fhoots are 
often killed, and this flops the growth of the trees. 
Likewife when they are planted on a v/arm dry foil, 
they are frequently killed by drought in the fummer ; 
therefore this is a very improper tree for this country, 
iinlefs for fome cold, moift, peaty land, where they 
may probably thrive, and in fuch fituations few other 
trees will grow. 
The American or black Larch, thrives pretty well 
upon moift land, but on dry ground will make but 
little progrefs. A few of thefe trees by way of variety, 
may be allowed to have place in every collection of 
trees defigned for pleafure ; but for profit, the common 
Larch is to be preferred to any other fpecies. 
In Switzerland, where thefe trees abound, and they 
have a fcarcity of other wood, they build mofl of 
their houfes with it ; and great part of their furniture 
is alfo made of the wood, fome of which is white, 
and fome red, but the latter is mofl efteemed. The 
rednefs of the wood is by fome fuppofed to be from 
the age of the trees, and not from any difference be- 
tween them, but is rather owing to the quantity of 
turpentine contained in them. They frequently cut 
out the boards into fhingles of a foot fquare, with 
which they cover their houfes, inftead of tiles or other 
covering j thefe are at firft very white, but after they 
have been two or three years expofed, become as black 
as charcoal ; and all the joints are flopped by the re- 
fm, which the fun draws out from the pores of the 
wood, which is hardened by the air, and becomes a 
fmooth fliining varnilh, which renders the houfes fo 
covered impenetrable to either wind or rain •, but as 
this is very combuftible, the magiftrates have made 
an order of police, that the houfes fo covered Ihould 
be built at a diftance from each other to prevent lire, 
which has often done great damage in villages. 
In mofl countries where this wood is in plenty, it is 
preferred to all the kinds of Fir for every purpofe • 
and in many places there are lliips built of this wood, 
which they fay are durable •, therefore this may be a 
very proper tree for planting upon fome of the cold 
barren hills in many parts of England, which at pre- 
fent produce nothing to their proprietors, and in one 
age may be large eftates to their pofterity, and a na- 
tional advantage •, which might be effected without a 
great expence, where the buflnefs is properly con- 
dufted. 
The beft method for doing this, would be by making 
fmall nurferies on or near the place where the plan- 
L A R 
tation is intended to be made, 'in thofe nurferies the 
feeds Ihould be fown ; and if there are any poor cot- 
tagers there, thefe may be employed in railing of the 
plants, keeping of them clean, and afterward in tranf- 
planting them. This will leffen the number of indi- 
gent poor, and by employing them in this fort of 
hulbandry, they may be brought to have a love and 
regard for trees of their own planting, fo will not be 
tempted to deftroy them themfelves, or fuffer others 
to do it ^ and as the feafon for planting happens at a 
time of year when the farmers have little employment 
for their labourers, fo the finding them ufeful em- 
ployment this way, will be of infinitely more advan- 
tage than the giving them alms from theparifti; and 
the children may be taught to weed and keep the 
young plants clean in fummer, whereby, they may be 
rendered ufeful, and kept from being burdenfome to 
the parilhes. 
From the Larch-tree is extracted the Venice turpen- 
tine, which the inhabitants of the valley of St. Martin 
near Lucern, make a confiderable merchandize of. 
They collect this by boring holes in the trunk of the 
trees, at about two or three feet from the ground, 
into which they fix narrow troughs about twenty inches 
long ; the end of thefe are hollowed like a ladle, and 
in the middle is a fmall hole bored for the turpentine 
to run into a receiver, which is placed below it ; as 
the' turpentine runs from the trees, it paffes along the 
Hoping gutter or trough to the ladle, and from thence 
runs through the holes into the receiver. The people 
who gather this vifit the trees morning and evening, 
from the end of May to September, to collect the tur- 
pentine from out of the receivers. 
The third fort is the Cedarof Libanus, which is a tree, 
of great antiquity ; and what is remarkable, this tree 
is not found as a native in any other part of the world, 
fo far as hath come to our knowledge. 
The cones of this tree are frequently brought from 
the Levant, which, if preferved entire, will preferve 
their feeds good for feveral years. The time of their 
ripening is commonly in the fpring, and fo confe- 
quently are near one year old before we receive them, 
for which they are not the worfe, but rather the 
better ; the cones having difcharged a great part of 
their refin by lying, and the feeds are much eafier to 
get out of them than fuch as are frefti taken from th® 
tree. 
The beft way to get the feeds out is to fplit the cones, 
by driving a lharp piece of iron through the center 
lengthways, which will fplit the cone ; then you may 
pull the feeds out with your fingers, which you will 
find are fattened to a thin leafy fubftance called wings, 
as are thofe of the Fir-tree : but before the feeds are 
taken out, it will be proper to put the cones in water 
for twenty-four or thirty hours, which will render 
them eafier to fplit, fo that the feeds may be taken 
out with greater fafety ; for there will require care in 
the doing of it, otherwife many of the feeds will be 
fpoiled, as they are very tender, and will bruife where 
there is any force employed to get them out. 
Thefe feeds Ihould be fown in boxes or pots of light 
frefti earth, and treated as was directed for the Firs 
(to which I refer the reader) but only fhall obferve, 
that thefe require more lhade in fummer while young 
than the Firs, and Ihould be frequently refreftied with 
water. 
When the plants come up they tnuft be guarded from 
the birds, otherwife they will pick off their tops, as 
they do of the young Firs where they are not guarded j 
they mutt alfo be conftantly kept clean from weeds, 
and not placed under the drip of trees. The plants 
may remain in thefe boxes or pots in which they were 
fown till the following fpring, but it will be proper 
to place them under a frame in winter, or cover them 
with mats j for while they are young they are in dan- 
ger of lofing their tops, if they are pinched by froft, 
for the young plants often Ihoot late in the autumn. 
In the fpring, before the plants begin to Ihoot, they 
Ihould be carefully taken up and tranfplanted into 
beds at about four inches diftance, doling the earth 
7 R gently^ 
