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poses, to any of the American pines or firs which grow in the sameparts.” (Laws. Manual, p. 388.) Mr. Blair, when in Canada, wasinformed that the wood of this tree is preferred to maple, hickory,or beech, as fuel for the steam-boats on the St. Lawrence. (Blairin Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 488.) In Mr. M‘Nab’s article on thelocal distribution of different species of trees in the native forests ofAmerica, published in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, he statesthat on a flattened, low, moist meadow, on this line of road, was anextensive forest of the tamarack, or black American larch, whichhe calls Zarix pendula, tall straggling trees, with stems not exceeding1 ft. 8 in. in circumference. “ Through the tract of country which wehave passed,” he adds, “ this tree was by no means plentiful, havingonly seen four masses of them, and these very distant from eachother: all were in similar situations.” (Quart. Journ. of Agr., vol.v. p. 601.)

i L. a.Wprolfcra ; X. prolifera Malcolm, The prolifer ous-hr reach o(\ Larch.—In this variety, the axis of the cones is prolonged in the form of ashoot; a kind of monstrosity which is found in all the varieties ofL. americana, and also occasionally, as Richard has shown, in somespecies of yl'bies and Picea. The plant in the Horticultural Society’sI Garden, after being 12 years planted, is 15 ft. high.

; Description, §c. Michaux describes the American larch as a tall slender

i tree, with a trunk 80 ft. or 100 ft. high, and only 2 ft. or 3 ft. in diameter. Its

[ numerous branches, except near the summit, are horizontal or declining.

! The bark is smooth and shining on the trunk and larger branches, but ruggedon the smaller branches. The leaves are flexible, and shorter than those ofthe European species. The cones are small and erect; green in spring, andgenerally brown when ripe, but sometimes they are found of a violet colour.The wood, Michaux says, is equal to that of the European larch, being exceed-ingly strong, and singularly durable. The American larch is most abundantin Vermont, New Hampshire, and the district of Maine; but, though the* soil is well adapted to its growth, it does not form the hundredth part of the| .dbietinae in these latitudes. According to the elder Michaux’s observations,

( in his journey to Hudson’s Bay, it is only beyond the St. Lawrence, parti-cularly near Lake St. John, and the Great and the Little Lake Misstassin,t that it begins to abound, and to form masses of wood, some of which areseveral miles in extent. It is abundant in Newfoundland, in nearly the samelatitude. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the coldest and gloomiest expo-sures in the mountainous tracts of Virginia, are the limits of its appearancetowards the south ; but it is rare in these states : and, in Lower Jersey and; the vicinity of New York, it is seen only in the swamps of white cedar(Cupressus thuyoides), with which it is scantily mingled. According toI Pursh, the two forms of this species, though united in one by Michaux, are

| specifically and constantly different. He never saw them both growing in the

I same place, or even near one another. L. a. pendula was introduced by

Peter Collinson, in 1739; and the original tree planted by him at Peck-hain was afterwards removed to Mill Hill; where it was cut down, saysSir James Edward Smith, “about the year 1800, to make a rail, by itssapient possessor. The abundance of seeds,” he adds, “ which it annuallyproduced might have been a far more lasting source of profit, as few exotictrees are more worthy of cultivation. It was from this tree that Solanderfirst described L. a. pendula as a distinct species, L. a. rubra not havingbeen introduced till 1760. The original tree of this latter variety was plantedby John Duke of Argyll at Whitton, where Sir James Edward Smith andMr. Lambert saw it early in the present century, and where we examinedit on the 21st of July, 1837, and found it between 40 ft. and 50ft. high. Thewood, in America, and especially in Canada, according to Michaux, is con-sidered among the most valuable timber, and has no fault except its weight*In the district of Maine, it is more esteemed than any other resinous wood,

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