CHAP. CXI1I.

coni'kerae. xa'kix.

2391

and larger branches being permitted to remain for a considerable time, theywill, during that period, have deposited a large quantity of leaves for thenourishment of the ground below. The first thinning will be of such value asto compensate for the great labour of performing it, when it is thus long de-layed ; and it could not have been so long delayed, had the trees been plantedthicker. The duke seems to be aware that the opinions of many planters,and many practical ones too, run counter to the practice of thin planting, asrecommended by him ; but it is questionable whether any of them has had theexperience of rearing larch to the height of from 700 ft. to 1600 ft. above thesea. At that elevated region, it appears to the duke proper to follow thedictates of experience, rather than those of custom ; and, though he may him-self have, perhaps, at first adopted it from necessity, arising from a difficultyof obtaining plants, he continued it when that necessity no longer existed,because he had seen the good effects arising from it. Thin as 2000 plantsmay appear on an acre, they will only stand 5 ft. 3 in. apart.”

The Process of the Thickening of the Soil by the Larch is one very importantin its results; and we have already given it in p. 2373.

Comparative Effect of the Larch with other Trees in improving the Soil . “ Inoak copses, the value of the pasture is only 5s. or 6s. per acre for 8 years onlyin every 21 years, when the copse is cut down again. Under a Scotch pineplantation, the grass is not worth 6 d. more per acre than it was before it wasplanted. Under beech and spruce it is worth less than it was before; but thespruce affords excellent shelter to cattle, either from the heat of summer orthe cold of winter. Under ash, the value may be 2s. or 3s. per acre morethan it was in its natural state; but under larch, where the ground was notworth Is. per acre, the pasture is worth from 8s. to 10s. per acre, after the first30 years, when all the thinnings have been completed, and the trees left fornaval purposes, at the rate of about 400 to the acre, and 12 ft. apart.”

Thinning. “ The great object of the late duke seems to have been to raiselarch timber on his property fit for naval purposes. With that view, heplanted his trees, and thinned his plantations. No demand for wood for merecountry purposes would have warranted him to plant so extensively as he did.He found that larches could grow to a great size at only 12 ft. apart; and thisdistance gives 380 trees to the Scotch acre, which is little more than one fifthpart of the 2000 per acre originally planted. The first thinning should be aslight one, of about one fifth of the whole, by removing only those trees thatare of least value, or worthless. After 24 years from the time of planting, theleaves fall off the lower branches, which are, of course, no longer useful to thesoil below. From 20 to 30 years old, the thinning is carried on so exten-sively as to remove two thirds of those trees which were left standing bythe first thinning. In thinning, it is necessary to observe that all the strongestand healthiest trees should be left, even if two or three of them should becloser together than 12 ft. These small clumps happening to light on afavourable situation, they will thrive well, as the air has access to each tree,around two thirds of its circumference. This thinning being delayed so long,the trees thinned out will be valuable for a variety of purposes. One of thesepurposes is the profitable use which may be made of the bark. The last thin-ning should be given when the trees are from 30 to 35 years old, which willleave from 380 to 400 trees per acre. The 380 will require a little pruningand trimming of the lower branches, in order to give head room to the cattlewhich are to browse on the grass below. The whole prunings and thinningswdl cost about 51., and their produce will fetch about 12/., leaving a profit onthem of about 7 1. an acre.”

Planting the Scotch Pine along with the Larch . “ The rapid growth of theyoung larch trees, even in exposed situations, is certainly matter of surprise,fhis property convinced the late duke of the inutility of providing nurses forthem. His gardener, Alexander Macrostie, whose name as a planter theduke mentions with approbation, and who was at the head of all His Grace’splantations, thought proper, during the duke’s absence, to fill up with Scotch