fHE CULTIVATOR. 
123 
ters, it was much used to paint on; and many of Ra¬ 
phael's piciures are painted on pannels of larch. 
The superiority of the foreign over our native varie¬ 
ties, consists principally in the great rapidity of its 
growth, and its power of adaptation to the poorest soil; 
while the American larch is properly a swamp tree, and 
grows but indifferently in any soil not naturally moist 
and humid; the foreign, on the contrary, will grow in 
any soil or situation, no matter how meagre or bleak, 
and is therefore admirably adapted to plant upon our 
mountains and barren lands that are valueless for other 
purposes, since, in addition to its rapid growth, it pos¬ 
sesses the peculiar property like the locust of manufac¬ 
turing a soil as it increases, from the annual decomposi¬ 
tion of its leaflets; thus we find in the extensive larch 
plantations of the Duke of Athol, that land not worth one 
shilling sterling per acre, before the larch was planted, 
became worth eight to ten shillings sterling per acre af¬ 
ter the first thirty years, when all the thinnings were 
completed, and the trees left for naval purposes, at the 
rate of 6s., four hundred to the acre, and twelve feet 
apart. 
The larch, as I before remarked, is a very quick 
grower, comparing, and in fact exceeding the poplar, and 
our most rapid growing trees. The anecdote is, I be¬ 
lieve well known, of the Duke of Athol seeing a British 
frigate built in 1819, at Woolwich, of timber planted at 
Blair and Dunkeld by himself and the Duke, his prede¬ 
cessor. I have myself, trees that eighteen months ago 
were growing in England, that have made shoots of over 
five feet this season. 
As regards the difference of appearance between the 
two species, as to foliage, habits, &c., I confess that to 
my taste, there is hardly a comparison; the foliage of the 
native sort is a bluish green, and though perhaps more 
delicate than the foreign, yet this is more than compen¬ 
sated by the picturesque and infinitely beautiful manner 
in which full grown trees feather to the ground—the 
American larch being more rigid and stiff, and possess¬ 
ing little of that graceful and pendulous manner which so 
distinguishes the foreign tree. 
After these remarks, I cannot too warmly recommend 
the extensive introduction of the Scotch larch among us 
both for ornament and profit; when judiciously treated, 
nothing adds so much to the spirit or charm of artificial 
plantations, as this striking and picturesque tree, and for 
purposes of profit, it possesses all the valuable proper¬ 
ties of the locust, while it exceeds it in durability and ra¬ 
pidity of growth, besides being less fastidious in the soil 
it requires, and I cannot therefore suggest a better ap¬ 
propriation of the many acres of the rocky, mountainous 
and barren land which exists among us, than plantations 
of larch. They can be imported into this country at a 
cost of less than two cents per tree of three feet high ; and 
for extensive plantations, trees of one-third the cost and 
size would do better; and when we consider the light¬ 
ning rapidity with which our primeval forests are disap¬ 
pearing under the axe of the improver, does it not be¬ 
come the duty of every prudent farmer and land-holder 
to ask himself, how are we to meet hereafter the defi¬ 
ciency in timber ? I would answer, plant larch. You 
can at least emulate the Long Island farmer, who portion¬ 
ed off his children from his locust grove, planted on his 
marriage. 
You may even do more with the larch, than he did 
with the locust; for your descendants may, in course of 
time, verify the saying of the Romans, « That a post of 
lareh will outlive a pillar of iron.” 
By a careful comparison of the value for ship building, 
of the oak and larch, made in the government plantations 
in England it would appear that a larch of 50 years, pro¬ 
duced as much available timber, as an oak of 100. 
Fishkill Landing, Feb. 11, 1845. 
AGRICULTURAL MEETINGS. 
Mr. Editor —The weekly agricultural meetings at the 
Capital, are attracting much attention among farmers. 
The proceedings are read with great interest, and the in¬ 
quiry is often made why the editors of country papers 
do not more frequently publish them. It will not how¬ 
ever, be delayed much longer. The interest of the pub¬ 
lishers will lead them to furnish such intelligence as the 
public require. 
I was much pleased in reading the discussion at the 
sixth meeting, on the subject of manures. Having had 
some experience in top dressing grass lands with animal 
manure, and as the results were different from the views 
of my esteemed friend Bement, I will give you a brief 
statement. A few years since, having a piece of meadow 
land which produced very light grass, ami being so situ¬ 
ated that I could not plow it up, I determined to give it a 
good top dressing of stable manure. I drew on and 
spread early in the spring, about twenty loads to the acre. 
My workman was very sceptical as to the experiment, 
and said that there would be no grass. The same man, 
when the piece was mowed, became a convert to this 
method of improving the meadow. The crop was more 
than doubled, and the effects for three successive years, 
were most manifest. 
We want many carefully made experiments on the sub¬ 
ject of the proper application of manures, especially those 
from the yard of the farmer. Upon these, we are main¬ 
ly in this country to rely, and the investigations which 
are making, will, I trust, lead to the establishment of 
some general principles, that will materially aid in the 
application of manures. 
I am preparing another piece of land the present sea¬ 
son, in the same manner as the one alluded to, and should 
my life be spared, I shall give the result to the readers 
of the Cultivator. B. P. Johnson. 
Rome, March, 1845. 
BARN-DOOR FASTENINGS. 
Mr. Editor—I have some barn-door fasteningsof my 
own invention, which I find the most convenient of any 
I have seen, a description of which I forward you. 
A. (fig. 40,) han 
die, eighteen inch 
es long, made of 
one-horse waggon 
tire,tapered to one- 
third its width, 
with three holes 
punched through 
the wide end, two 
inches apart. 
B. B. two bolts, 
of three-quarter 
inch round iron, 
attached to the 
handle, either by 
splitting the end, 
or by a rivet. 
C. C. two eyes, 
with screws or sta¬ 
ples driven thro’ 
the door at the top 
and bottom, thro’ 
Which the bolts 
pass to guide them 
j D. screw-bolt, which fastens the whole to the middle 
rail of the door frame, and passing through the middle 
j hole.of the handle; which I find is all that is necessary 
i in the middle, without any guides but the ones at the bot¬ 
tom and top of the door. 
The opposite door I fasten by a bolt on a different 
principle from any I have seen. Annexed you have a 
drawing, (fig. 41,) but you will perceive that some oth¬ 
er fastening will be required if you wish to open the 
door from the outside; but with me it is necessary to 
keep my barn locked; but with those who use a latch, I 
think if they will try my double bolt fastenings, they 
would not willingly be deprived of them. 
A. (fig. 41,) handle fastened to the middle rail of the 
door, by a screw-bolt at D. 
B. Bolt, one foot long, of half inch iron. 
C. eye or staple, through which the bolt passes. 
The dotted lines show the position of the handle wher 
the bolt is drawn. Franklin County. 
[Fig. 40] [Fig. 41.] 
to their proper places. 
