chap. cxin.

coni'feh/e. la'rix.

2397

of the wood, by being cut full in the sap, did not counterbalance all the advan-tages derived in the shape of increased value of bark. Even in the case ofyoung trees which were appropriated to posts and rails after having been peeledfor their bark, great expense was incurred in paint, in order to preserve the railsafter they were deprived of their bark, which is a great preservation to postsand rails. If any profit is to be derived from larch bark to the grower, it mustbe from the produce of that great thinning which takes place when the trees arefrom 20 to 30 years old. The making of a road, in June 1819, to carry off thewood from the top of Craig-y-Barns, gave the duke a favourable opportunity oftrying the peeling of the bark from trees that were cut down at that season ofthe year when the sap was quite full in them. Some of the trees, that were 50years old, peeled from end to end without difficulty, and each of them pro-duced from 5 to 6 stones Dutch of bark. Thickly planted trees of 33 years ofage, and 37 ft. in length, and 25 in. in girt, 3 ft. from the but end, were alsopeeled, and they each yielded about a Dutch stone of bark. At an age of 20 or 21,and height of 28 ft., they yielded only half a stone ; but even this small quantity,calculated at the current price of larch bark, at lOrf. per stone, gave 5 d. a tree,a price greater than any Scotch pine near them was worth altogether, of thesame age.” At present, Mr. Gorrie informs us, larch bark does little morethan cover the expense of peeling, drying, and carrying to market; and thatit now sells at from 6 d. to 8rf. per stone.

“ Larch Tops which had lain cut for 4 years, and were, of course, well worn,were found useful in filling drains where stones were at a distance; and theycontinued sound in them for many years.

“Larch Timber was used for axles to different kinds of mills, from 1793 to1802; and up to 1817 they continued quite sound, though constantly inwater.

“For Buildings , the larch is found equally desirable. In 1779, the duke builtthe shooting-box in Glentilt, called Forest Lodge, the floors and joists ofwhich were made of larch. The wood was under 40 years old; and, as an ex-periment, some of the deals were cut up narrow, and others as broad as theycould be wrought. In 1817, the narrow boards continued quite close together.After the bridge was thrown over the Tay at Dunkeld , the duke altered thecourse of the great northern road to Inverness, which caused him to buildnew porter’s lodge, stables, and offices to Dunkeld-House, near the new lineof road. The whole woodwork of these buildings was executed with larch.They were finished in 1812. In 1813, part of Athol House was burnt down,and the repairs of wood, consisting ofjoists, floors, doors, and windows, wereall made of larch. This wood was so red in colour, that it looked like cedar.Several houses were also repaired in the town of Dunkeld with larch. AtDunkeld 271 , and at Blair 170, larch trees had been used,by 1817, for buildingpurposes.

“ The first Attempt to use the Larch for the Purposes of Navigation was in theconstruction of fishing-cobles on the Tay, in 1777. Previously to that, theywere made of Scotch pine ; and they lasted only three years, when they had toundergo a thorough repair. In fifteen years more, ferry-boats were constructed°t larch, instead of oak, for the conveyance of passengers across the differentferries on the numerous rivers on the property. The oars, too, in the course°f time, were made of larch, and they were found to be excellent in lightness,toughness, and elasticity. In 1809, 8491 cubic feet of larch timber were sentto Woolwich dockyard, the greatest part of which was employed in the repair°f the Serapis store-ship in 1810; and the state of its soundness was favour-ably reported on in 1817. One beam of it was put into the large frigateSj’belle, in 1816, after it had lain six years in the dockyard.

“ The next trial of larch in ship-building was in the Sir Simon Clerk mer-chant vessel, of 375 tons register, built by Messrs. Syines and Co. of Leith, in1810; but, as that vessel was soon afterwards taken by the Americans, noaccount could be got regarding the durability of the timber.

Knee Timber for Larch Roots, “ In order to dress the ground, and lay it