2594

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

TART III

Loads, ft.

100 larch trees, at 64 years old, would give 1 load per tree, = 100 0

100

102

68

72

1

1

— — 100 010 ft., =122 10 ;

302 trees, at an average of 68 years old, would give

322 10

It is said that 3000 loads of timber are required to build a 74-gun ship.Ten acres, therefore, of larch would easily supply that quantity. Now, anEnglish acre will only grow 40 oaks at 34 ft. apart, the distance required fortheir growth ; and, allowing oak to yield a load of timber at 68 years of age,that would only yield 40 loads of timber per acre ; or, in other words, it wouldrequire 75 English acres to supply the requisite quantity of oak to build a74-gun ship.

Accidents and Diseases. “ The larch, like other trees, is liable to accidentsand diseases. Wind may drive them down by the roots, but it can very sel-dom break them, which shows the toughness of the wood. In November,1826, a hurricane was very fatal to the Scotch fir, and it tore up many larchesby the roots. The depredations committed by wild animals are sometimesconsiderable, such as those done by red deer, the roe, hares, rabbits, and eventhe black game. Fences of good stone walls will certainly form a powerfulbarrier against the inroads of all these creatures; but still they find an entranceinto the woods by gateways, and such like openings, for the sake of shelter.The red deer but seldom leave their more herbaceous pasture about Blair; butthe roe deer commit considerable depredations about Dunkeid, insomuch thatwar was obliged to be declared against them in 1816; and in that season, 170were brought in dead; and others, dying from wounds, would swell the numberof slain, that season, to upwards of 200, Before 1774, the roe deer were notknown to exist nearer than 30 miles to Dunkeid; and then they were scarceany where; but, since they have received shelter and protection from the nu-merous young plantations, they have increased very fast in numbers. Theirhabits are peculiar : they always go in herds of odd numbers, from 3 to 9.The doe generally produces two at a birth, and can rear them easily: but oneor both of the fawns are often destroyed by the foxes. The weight of a goodbuck with the skin, but without entrails, is 40 lb.; that of a doe from 32 lb. to381b. The principal mischief committed by them is by the buck rubbing hishorns between two trees, to get rid of the velvet which covers them. A dozenof trees may be seen at one view, of from 7 to 8 years of age, completelystripped round of their bark. Both the buck and the doe eat the tops of theyoung larch. Hares and rabbits, but particularly the former, appear to beseized with an idle but mischievous curiosity to taste the tops of a new plant-ation in its first year’s growth, though they never eat the tops they nip off.Not destroying for the gratification of hunger, their depredations are the moreextensive. Black game, too, nip off the tops of young plants for a year ortwo, but they never eat them. Plantations above 700 ft. of elevation are onlyannoyed by the deer.

Larchlilight. “Previously to the year 1795, a blight (occasionedbyan insect)affected the larch, and of those in low situations many died. At that time thefrost was very severe, and heavy frosty' fogs hung about the trees in spring.After this phenomenon, the blight appeared. Trees above 30 ft. in height,and in high situations, escaped this affection, where the wind could shake them.This blight destroyed the flower of the larch, and prevented the formation ofthe seed, and consequently the propagation of the plant. The first appear-ance of the blight was indicated by a substance on the larch, resembling smallballs, of a fine white matter like cotton. These balls, or nidi, enclosed smallinsects, a species of aphis, the two sexes of very different appearance. Theyappeared to live upon the juices exuding from the bark of the tree, and notupon the leaves; and they probably prevented the sap from ascending, at leastno fresh shoots were thrown out by the tree that season. Many trees weremuch injured by this disease; and, for a long time afterwards, they presented aremarkable appearance, that of being completely covered over with lichens.