310 LARCH
the larch grows of a nearly conical shape, with the lower branches almost reaching the ground, while those above gradually diminish in length towards the top of the trunk, presenting a very symmetrical form; but in dense woods the lower parts become bare of foliage, as with the firs under similar circumstances. When springing up among rocks or on ledges, the stem sometimes becomes much curved, and, with its spreading boughs and pendent branchlets, often forms a striking and picturesque object in the alpine passes and steep ravines in which the tree delights to grow. In the prevalent European varieties the bark is reddish-grey, and rather rough and scarred in old trees, which are often much lichen-covered. The trunk attains a height of from 80 to 140 feet, with a diameter of from 3 to 5 feet near the ground, but in close woods is comparatively slender in proportion to its altitude. The larch abounds on the Alps of Switzerland, on which it flourishes at an elevation of 5000 feet, and also on those of Tyrol and Savoy, on the Carpathians, and in most of the hill regions of central Europe; it is likewise found on parts of the Apennine chain, but is not indigenous to the Pyrenees, and in the wild state is unknown in the Spanish peninsula. It forms extensive woods in Russia, but does not extend its range to the Scandinavian countries, where its absence is somewhat remarkable, as the tree grows freely in Norway and Sweden where planted, and even multiplies itself by self-sown seed, according to Schübeler, in the neighbourhood of Trondhjem. In the north-eastern parts of Russia, in the country towards the Petchora river, and on the Ural, a peculiar variety prevails, regarded by some as a distinct species (L. sibirica); this form is abundant nearly through out Siberia, extending to the Pacific coast of Kamchatka and the hills of Dahuria. The Siberian larch has smooth grey bark and smaller cones, approaching in shape somewhat to those of the American hackmatack; it seems even hardier than the Alpine tree, growing up to latitude 68°, but, as the inclement climate of the polar shores is neared, dwindling clown to the form of a dwarf and even trailing bush; on the Altai, however, Pallas states that it flourishes only at medium elevations.
The larch, from its lofty straight trunk and the high quality of its wood, must be regarded as one of the most important of coniferous trees; its growth is extremely rapid, the stem attaining a large size in from sixty to eighty years, while the tree yields good useful timber at forty or fifty; it forms firm heartwood at an early age, and the sapwood is less perishable than that of the firs, rendering it more valuable in the young state.
The wood of large trees is close and compact in texture, in the Lest varieties of a deep reddish colour varying to brownish-yellow, but apt to be lighter in tint, and less hard in grain, when grown in rich soils or in low sheltered situations. It is remarkably tough, resisting a rending strain better than any of the fir or pine woods in common use, though not as elastic as some; properly seasoned, it is as little liable to shrink as to split; the boughs being small compared to the trunk, the timber is more free from large knots, and the small knots remain firm and undecayed. The only drawback to these good qualities is a certain liability to warp and bend, unless very carefully seasoned; for this purpose it is recommended to be left floating in water for a year after felling, and then allowed some months to dry slowly and completely before sawing up the logs; barking the trunk in winter while the tree is standing, and leaving it in that state till the next year, has been often advised with the larch as with other timber, but the practical inconveniences of the plan have prevented its adoption on any large scale. When well prepared for use, larch is one of the most durable of coniferous woods. Its strength and toughness render it valuable for naval purposes, to which it is largely applied; its freedom from any tendency to split adapts it for clinker-built boats, for the construction of which a high authority, Matthew, pronounces it the best of all woods. It is much employed for house building in all countries where it grows in abundance; most of the picturesque log-houses in Vaud and the adjacent cantons are built of squared larch trunks, and derive their fine brown tint from the hardened resin that slowly exudes from the wood after long exposure to the summer sun; the wooden shingles, that in Switzerland supply the place of tiles, are also frequently of larch. In Germany it is much used by the cooper as well as the carpenter, durable staves for casks being made of this valuable wood, while the form of the trunk admirably adapts it for all purposes for which long straight timber is needed. It is one of the most durable of woods in wet ground or under water, and answers well for fence-posts and river piles; many of the foundations of old Venice rest upon larch, the lasting qualities of which were well known and appreciated, not only in mediæval times, but in the far-off days of Vitruvius and Pliny. The harder and darker varieties are valuable to the cabinetmaker in the construction of cheap solid furniture, being fine in grain and taking polish better than many more costly woods. A peculiarity of larch wood is the difficulty with which it is ignited, although so resinous, a quality that gives it still higher value to the builder; for, though not quite so incombustible as the Romans deemed it, large pieces do not as easily take fire as the ordinary kinds of deal timber; and, coated with a thin layer of plaster, beams and pillars of larch might probably be found to justify Cæsar's epithet "igni impenetrabile lignum"; even the small branches are not easily kept alight, and a larch fire in the open needs considerable care. Yet the forests of larch in Siberia often suffer from conflagration. When these fires occur while the trees are full of sap, a curious mucilaginous matter is exuded from the half-burnt stems; when dry it is of a pale reddish colour, like some of the coarser kinds of gum-arabic, and is soluble in water, the solution resembling gum-water, in place of which it is sometimes used; considerable .quantities are collected and sold as "Orenburg gum"; in Siberia and Russia it is occasionally employed as a semi-medicinal food, being esteemed an antiscorbutic. For burning in close stoves and furnaces, larch makes tolerably good fuel, its value being estimated by Hartig as only one-fifth less than that of beech; the charcoal is compact, and is in demand for iron-smelting and other metallurgic uses in some parts of Europe.
In the trunk of the larch, especially when growing in climates where the sun is powerful in summer, a fine clear turpentine exists in great abundance; on the declivities of the Alps of Savoy and the south of Switzerland, it is collected by the peasants for sale, though not in such quantity as formerly, when, being taken to Venice for shipment, it was known in commerce as "Venice turpentine." Old trees are selected, from the bark of which it is observed to ooze in the early summer; holes are bored in the trunk, somewhat inclined upward towards the centre of the stem, in which, between the layers of wood, the turpentine is said to collect in small lacunæ; wooden gutters placed in these holes convey the viscous fluid into little wooden pails hung on the end of each gutter; the secretion flows slowly all through the summer months, and the little tubs are emptied and replaced as they fill; a tree in the proper condition yields from 6 to 8 lb a year, and will continue to give an annual supply for thirty or forty years, being, however, rendered quite useless for timber by subjection to this exhausting process. In Tyrol, whence a supply is also obtained, a single hole is made near the root of the tree in the spring; this is stopped with a plug, and the turpentine is removed by a scoop in the autumn; but each tree yields only from a few ounces to ½ lb by this process. Real larch turpentine is a thick tenacious fluid, of a deep yellow colour, and nearly transparent; it does not harden by time; it contains 15 per cent. of the essential oil of turpentine, also resin, succinic, pinic, and sylvic acids, and a bitter extractive matter. According to Pereira, much sold under the name of Venice turpentine is a mixture of common resin and oil of turpentine, and probably little of the real article now reaches England. On the French Alps a sweet exudation is found on the small branchlets of young larches in June and July, resembling manna in taste and laxative properties, and known as Manna de Briançon or Manna Brigantina; it occurs in small whitish irregular granular masses, which are removed in the morning before they are too much dried by the sun; this manna seems to differ little in composition from the sap of the tree, which also contains mannite; its cathartic powers are weaker than those of the manna of the manna ash (Ornus), but it is employed in France for the same purposes. The bark of the larch is largely used in some countries for tanning; it is taken from the trunk only, being stripped from the trees when felled; its value is about equal to that of birch bark; but, according to the experience of British tanners, it is scarcely half as strong as that of the oak. The soft inner bark is occasionally used in the wilds of Siberia as a ferment, by hunters and others, being boiled and mixed with rye-meal, and buried in the snow for a short time, when it is employed as a substitute for other leaven, and in making the sour liquor called "quass." In Germany a fungus (Polyporus laricis) grows on the roots and stems of decaying larches, which was formerly in esteem in England as a drastic purgative, but has given place to safer drugs, though it is still occasionally used by the Continental pharmacist. The young shoots of the larch are sometimes given in Switzerland as fodder to cattle.
The larch, though mentioned by Parkinson in 1629 as "nursed up" by a few "lovers of variety" as a rare exotic,
