at 3 feet 6 inches asunder. In all, 400,000 larches over 44 acres of ground. Thus these five gentlemen planted 536,208 larches entirely by themselves on 95 acres, varying in distance from 2 to 4 feet. Besides these instances of the planting of the larch alone, there are many others in England in which they were planted along with other trees; but as they would probably be so planted merely as nurses to the hard timber, such plantations cannot be considered as interesting experiments, in regard to the value of the larch as timber. Larches in mixed 13,000 In 1788, John Sneyd, Esq. of Belmont, in Staffordshire, plantations. 200,000 In 1802, J. C. Curwen, Esq. of Workington Hall, in Cumber Thus, under the auspices of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures, 1,240,008 larches were planted in England in 22 years. From 1805 to 1816, no candidates appeared to claim the premium, in consequence of the severe blight which affected the larch trees in England for some years; and which, preventing the formation of the cones, deprived the growers of larch plants of the usual supply of seed. There is no account given of the height at which these larches were planted. Had they been placed at a considerable elevation above the level of the sea, they would have probably escaped the contagion of the blight. It will be remembered in the account of the Dunkeld larch plantations, that the late Duke of Athole conceived that he had introduced three great improvements in the planting of the larch when it was to be raised for useful timber. These improvements were the placing the plant at a high elevation on the mountain side, in a region in which no other kind of timber tree would grow to perfection in this country; the inserting it in the soil at an early age, not exceeding two years old in the seed bed; and the notching the small plants into the ground by a peculiar instrument, at wide intervals, not nearer than 5 feet to each other. The great advantages which the Duke maintained were derivable from this practice were, the rendering available a great extent of mountain land for national purposes, which could never otherwise have been rendered useful; the great profit which was derived from even the first weeding of the plantation; and the obtaining of valuable shelter and pasture for live-stock, in situations in which, under any other management, it would be vain to expect it. It is difficult to conceive the extent of these advantages in a national point of view, when we contemplate the immense sources of wealth into which all the mountain-land of the United Kingdom could be converted by means of the larch; and of the almost unlimited source of employment which the management of these valuable forests, from their first formation to their final consumption, would present to an industrious but employment-seeking population. Now in the case of those English entirely larch plantations which have been noticed above, the Duke thinks, that fourfifths of them will become quite useless; because to plant 536,208 larch on only 95 acres, is but to exhaust the strength of the soil, which is naturally weak, and prevent its being nourished by the annual deposition of spines, on account of the thickness of the trees, which, if allowed to stand so for some years, will cause all the lower and stronger branches to fall off, and which are the most useful in the depositing of the spines, and increasing the diameter of the trunk; or if the trees are thinned out artificially, the remainder will only become long, small, weak rods, instead of strong, healthy, full timbered trees. According to the Duke's practice, 536,208 larches, instead of covering 954 acres, even at 5 feet apart, which gives 1440 trees to the acre, and which is the nearest distance his Lordship allowed them to be planted, would have covered 3724 acres, which gives an excess of 277 acres. The 95 acres will yield at the end of 72 years, 302 trees per English acre; and taking each tree at one load of timber, which is the most that it will 3 G VOL. III. NO. XVII. supply when planted so thick, will give 28,765 trees or loads, which, at 50s, per load, will give a money value of L. 81,912, 10s.; whereas, had the 536,208 larches been planted over 3724 acres, they would have furnished 112,419 trees at 72 years of age, and each would have yielded 60 feet of timber. The number of loads of timber would have been 134,903, which, at 50s. per load, would give a return in money of L. 337,257, 10s, To this may be added the saving of the expense of thinning, and the advantages derived from the value of the grass under the trees. The magnitude of the difference in the result arising from using the same number of larch plants in these different ways, is well worth the serious attention of the planters of larch entirely by themselves for naval timber. With regard to the spruce, the late Duke of Atholl observed that the best situation for planting them, is in damp situations, in hollows, and in the ravines of mountains. In such situations, they will equal the larch in rapidity of growth, and they will rise to timber trees at an altitude much beyond the Scotch fir, and next to the larch. In dry and unsheltered situations they make little progress for six or seven years, though even there they will live. They will bear to be overtopped by other kinds of trees, particularly the Scotch fir. Under them they will live patiently for many years; and when the firs are removed, and they can derive all the benefits of the sun and air, they will shoot up luxuriantly into a verdant forest. They form excellent screens to other trees, and they bear pruning in their under branches. There is no tree which will bear to be so thickly planted together as the spruce. In an old nursery of the Duke, they had been left for experiment for more than thirty years, when they had acquired a diameter of 16 or 18 inches. They were growing so close together, that a man could scarcely pass between their trunks. The Duke had an opportunity of witnessing the durability of the spruce, even when young, in posts and rails, which kept free of worms and lasted as long as the larch *. But the great They proved most useful top-masts and spars for the Atholl frigate, which was built of Dunkeld larch. The Duke had thus an opportunity of trying two new species of home woods for naval purposes. trial of the value of spruce as large timber, was made in 1805, when the bridge was building over the Tay at Dunkeld. At that time, fifty or sixty trees, which stood in the way of a new road, were cut down and sawn into planks of 10 inches. These trees contained from 70 to 80 cubic feet each of timber, and they were at least 100 feet in height. These planks were mostly used as caissons under the piers of the bridge, and many of them. were used as heavy planks, upon which were wheeled earth and stones for twelve years. Planks and posts of spruce were used in the fitting up of the new stables at Dunkeld. Those trees which were cut down for the planks were much branched down to the ground; but in cutting up the timber, the effect of these branches was found only superficial, no knots having entered into the wood. For some other spruces that the Duke caused to be felled, he got from 2s. 10d. to 3s. per foot. The spruce was first introduced into the Dunkeld plantation from 1738 to 1759 by the Duke James, but they were all planted according to the fashion of the times in straight rows. From the trials which he had made, the late Duke was quite satisfied of the value of spruce timber, and he accordingly increased the annual planting of it from 20,000 to 200,000 plants, always taking care to plant them entirely by themselves, in the most favourable situations for their growth. But good as many of the qualities of the spruce undoubtedly are, they have also some drawbacks. The close texture of the leaves and branches prevent all ingress to the air, so that no herbage will grow under them, though they can afford complete shelter to live-stock from any storm. Their evergreen branches subject them to the violence of the winter winds, which, unable to tear their powerful fangs out of the ground, snap their stems over from 5 to 10 feet above the ground, thus destroying the value of the tree for timber. Being a tree which pushes out early in the spring, the top shoots of the spruce are frequently. hurt by the frost, which is indicated by their assuming a brown tint. This injury checks the growth of the tree till the autum nal rains. With these exceptions, the spruce is certainly a valuable tree to cultivate in our damp and mountainous regions. NOTES MADE DURING A VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA IN 1831. By Mr FERGUSSON of Woodhill. THE communication with the Upper Provinces being now open, I prepared to leave Montreal, upon Thursday, April 28.* Coach hours are early in the States and in Canada. We started before 5 A. M., along a very tolerable road, for La Chine, distant nine miles. A canal, of considerable importance to commerce, by avoiding some troublesome rapids, has been formed for the like distance. The surface of the country is flat; the soil, though light, is apparently fertile; and the husbandry superior to what usually presents itself in this part of the world; a circumstance which the vicinity of Montreal may in some measure explain. Our coach party proved a pleasant one. We had with us a sort of public character, in a journalist of the Upper Province, distinguished for principles, by some called liberal, and by others denounced as breathing sedition itself. Mr M- was now on his return from Quebec, where he had been catering for the columns of "The Colonial Advocate," and, among other items, had received the parliamentary papers. upon the Rideau Canal, a precious morceau for critique and exposition. At La Chine we embarked in a steam-boat upon an expan sion of the St Lawrence, called Lake St Louis. A capital breakfast was waiting us on board, and we had a very pleasant run of twenty-three miles to the Cascades, where, on account of rapids in the river, we resumed our land travelling. From the state of the road we were obliged to use waggons, and had a somewhat rough ride of sixteen miles to Coteau de Lac. The • However crude the travelling accommodations may yet be in Canada or the States, it is certain that matters are mending. In 1796, Weld could only find two vehicles in Albany, which were in use to be hired to travellers, and these only to be had at a most extravagant rate; while, in order to reach the Upper Provine, he says, " On arriving here (Montreal) our first concern was to provide a large travelling tent-camp-equipage, buffalo skins, dried provisions, &c. and, in short, to make every usual and necessary preparation for ascending the St Lawrence by a batteaux to Kingston." At present, I had only to step into the stage-office and pay for my place. |