LAU 
LAY 
a useful size, of superior quality, may be 
grown in a little more than a third the 
time, larch timber of better grain being 
cut from trees 30 years old, than from 
the pine at 100. In the application of 
larch-wood, an objection has arisen from 
its warping, but this, it is stated by 
Monteath and others may be prevented 
by barking the trees in the spring, pre¬ 
vious to their being cut down in autumn. 
The larch is not adapted for a nurse 
plant, though sometimes so employed; it 
is deciduous, and therefore affords the 
young trees little or no shelter at the time 
it is most required, but it may be profit¬ 
ably grown for poles, as it will bear to 
stand thick, and grows very rapidly, and 
always erect; in ten or fifteen years they 
attain a useful size, and if the bark is re¬ 
moved are very serviceable for rough 
building or other purposes; a great quan¬ 
tity are used for rustic work, when they 
are generally worked with the bark on 
them, in this state, however, they do not 
last beyond a few years, it is therefore 
better removed, and the poles may be 
painted or varnished. The larch is usu¬ 
ally raised from seed, and like the Abies 
requires a good deal of practical judgment 
to ensure their vegetation; the rearing 
these and most other members of the 
tribe is almost confined to the Scotch 
nurseries, where great attention is 
paid to the matter, and supplies are 
thence received at so little expense 
that it is seldom attempted in Eng¬ 
land, from pecuniary reasons. The prac¬ 
tice is to sow in April on well pre¬ 
pared ground of a sandy nature; the 
seed is sown moderately thick and rolled 
in, after which about an inch of earth is 
thrown over; and when the plants are 
one or two years old they are trans¬ 
planted to nursery rows about a foot 
apart each way, and every alternate year 
they should again be removed till finally 
stationed. Autumn is the best time for 
planting, as these trees begin to grow 
so early in spring, that it can seldom be 
done at that time without injury; the 
plants should not exceed five or six years 
old, and if younger their ultimate success 
is more certain. 
LAUIIUS, Bay Tree (Pliny.) .Nat. 
Ord. Lauraceae. Of the common bay 
tree (Z. nobilis) there are several 
varieties, all esteemed equally with the 
parent species among hardy evergreen 
shrubs, and but for the circumstance of 
their requiring protection in severe wea¬ 
ther, would doubtless become more gene¬ 
rally employed; the broad-leaved variety, 
latifolia, is certainly one of the best, its 
ample dark-green, glossy foliage having a 
fine effect wherever, from the sheltered 
character of the place, it can be preserved 
to attain a good size; crispa , undulata, 
and variegata are also fine shrubs, and 
where a light loamy soil and protection 
from excessive frost can be afforded, 
are very desirable. This plant is the laurel 
of the Homan poets, and the distinc¬ 
tion bestowed by them upon it induced 
Linnaeus to call the species nobilis. In 
the south of Europe it assumes the cha¬ 
racter of a tree, attaining a great height, 
and its ever-verdant appearance is strik¬ 
ingly symbolical of that endurance with 
which it may be supposed they desired 
to invest the fame of their heroes. The 
plant now known as the laurel belongs to 
another and very different genus. Be¬ 
sides the bay tree, the genus Laurus con¬ 
tains some other shrubs capable of bear¬ 
ing our climate, the most remarkable of 
which are L. Benzoin, or Benjamin tree, 
and L. sassafras, both used in medicine; 
the first is a partly deciduous shrub, and 
the latter is a rather large tree; L. 
Carolinensis and its varieties are also 
trees, while L. aestivalis, albida, Cates - 
biana, Diospgrus, geniculata, and thyrsi- 
flora are shrubs. They all delight in 
sandy loam, and in the warmer counties 
of England thrive tolerably well. All 
the species are aromatic and more or 
less stomachic. They are increased by 
layers or cuttings of the roots. The 
common bay is much used in cookery to 
flavour custards, &c., but as the nut-like 
taste of the leaves depends on the pre¬ 
sence of prussic acid, it is, consequently, 
poisonous, and should be employed 
cautiously. 
LA YEN DUE A, Lavender (Linn.) 
Nat. Ord. Labiatee. The hardy species of 
lavender are much esteemed for their 
fragrance, which continues about the 
