312 L A R L A R
a predisposing cause of the attack, and the best safeguards are probably perfect drainage, and early and sufficient thinning. On exposed hill-sides, and other well-drained breezy localities, the larch is little liable to failure from "rot" or any other cause. On arid subsoils, however, the tree will sometimes be injured in very dry seasons; and such situations, though suitable for Scotch fir, are therefore badly adapted for larch.
Considerable quantities of larch timber are imported into Britain for use in the dockyards, in addition to the large home supply. The quality varies much, as well as the colour and density; an Italian sample in the museum at Kew (of a very dark red tint) weighs about 24½ lb to the cubic foot, while a Polish specimen, of equally deep hue, is 44 lb 1 oz. to the same measurement.
For the purposes of the landscape gardener, whose chief aim is the picturesque, the larch is a valuable aid in the formation of park and pleasure ground. On steep hill-sides, the lofty aspiring stem and drooping branchlets add a pleasing feature to the prospect; the light airy aspect of the tree adapts it as a contrast to the heavier masses of the pines and firs; the bright light-green foliage in the spring affords an agreeable variety, and nature presents few more refreshing objects to the sight than a larch plantation bursting into young leaf; in the late autumn, the pale yellow of the changing foliage stands out in strong relief to the sombre tones of the ever green conifers, or the deep red-brown of the beech; but in park or plantation the larch is never seen to such advantage as when hanging over some tumbling burn or rocky pass among the mountains. A variety with very pendent boughs, known as the "drooping" larch, is occasionally met with in gardens.
The bark of the larch has lately been introduced into pharmacy, being given, generally in the form of an alcoholic tincture, in chronic bronchitic affections and internal haemorrhages. It contains, in addition to tannin, a peculiar principle called larixin, which may be obtained in a pure state by distillation from a concentrated infusion of the bark; it is a colourless substance in long crystals, with a bitter and astringent taste, and a faint acid reaction; hence some term it larixinic acid.
The genus is represented in the eastern parts of North America by the hackmatack (L. americana), of which there are several varie ties, two so well-marked that they are by some botanists considered specifically distinct. In one (L. microcarpa) the cones are very small, rarely exceeding ½ inch in length, of a roundish-oblong shape; the scales are very few in number, crimson in the young state, reddish- brown when ripe; the tree much resembles the European larch in general appearance, but is of more slender growth; its trunk is .seldom more than 2 feet in diameter, and rarely above 80 feet high; this form is the red larch, the épinette rouge of the French Canadians. The black larch (L. pendula) has rather larger cones, of an oblong shape, about ¾ inch long, purplish or green in the immature state, and dark brown when ripe, the scales somewhat more numerous, the bracts all shorter than the scales. The bark is dark bluish-grey, smoother than in the red larch, on the trunk and lower boughs often glossy; the branches are more or less pendulous and very slender. The red larch grows usually on higher and drier ground, ranging from the Virginian mountains to the shores of Hudson's Bay; the black larch is found often on moist land, and even in swamps. The hackmatack is one of the most valuable timber trees of America; it is in great demand in the ports of the St Lawrence for shipbuilding, the best vessels built in British America having their frames wholly or partially constructed of this fine wood. It is far more durable than any of the oaks of that region, is heavy and close-grained, and much stronger, as well as more lasting, than that of the pines and firs of Canada. In many parts all the finer trees have been cut down, but large woods of it still exist in the less accessible districts; it abounds especially near Lake St John, and in Newfoundland is the prevalent tree in some of the forest tracts; it is likewise common in Maine and Vermont. In the timber and building yards the "red" hackmatack is the kind preferred, the produce, probably, of L. microcarpa; the "grey" is less esteemed; but the varieties from which these woods are obtained cannot always be traced with certainty. Several fine specimens of the red larch exist in English parks, but its growth is much slower than that of L. europæa, and it has never been planted on a large scale; the more pendulous forms of L. pendula are elegant trees for the garden. The hackmatacks might per haps be grown with advantage in places too wet for the common larch.
In western America a larch occurs more nearly resembling L. europæa, the western larch (L. occidentalis) of Nuttall, who speaks of it as found by him in "the coves of the Rocky Mountains on the western slope towards the Oregon." The leaves are short, thicker and more rigid than in any of the other larches; the cones are much larger than those of the hackmatacks, egg-shaped or oval in outline; the scales are of a fine red in the immature state, the bracts green and extending far beyond the scales in a rigid leaf-like point. The bark of the trunk has the same reddish tint as that of the common larch of Europe. This is probably the tree described by Fremont as the European larch, and found by him in great abundance on the Blue Mountains, near the valley called the Grand Rond. He alludes to the large size of the trunk, some of the trees being 200 feet high and one 10 feet in circumference; the stems were often clear of branches for 100 feet from the ground. Little is known of the quality of the timber, but specimens of the wood seem to be firm and close in grain; the colour is a pale reddish tint throughout. From its great size the tree would appear worthy of the attention of American planters.
The other species of the genus Larix present few features of interest except to the botanist. (C. P. J.)
LARD is the melted and strained fat of the common
hog. The bulk of the lard of commerce is obtained from
the abdominal fat of the animal; but in the preparation
of inferior qualities fatty scraps of all kinds which result
from the preparation of pork are melted up, and occasion
ally entire flanks of pigs are treated for the fat they yield.
Ordinary lard is a pure white fat of the consistency of
butter, having a faint characteristic taste, and scarcely any
odour. It melts at between 78° to 88° Fahr., has a specific
gravity of 915, and consists of 62 per cent. of fluid fat
(olein or lard oil), and 38 per cent. of the hard fats palmitin
and stearin. If perfectly pure, it has no tendency to become
rancid; but there is generally sufficient impurity present
to develop a change in the olein, which gradually exhibits
itself by a yellow colour and a rancid odour and taste. Lard is an article of considerable importance in commerce; it is calculated that the annual produce of the substance in the United States of America alone is not less than 5,000,000 cwts. Its preparation is conducted in connexion with the great pork-curing and packing establishments, mostly centred in Chicago, Cincinnati, St Louis, Milwaukee, Louisville, and Indianapolis, – Chicago alone now monopolizing about one-half of the American trade. In these establishments the fat is "rendered" in large vats heated by coils or worms of steam pipes, each charge being completely melted in from ten to twelve hours. The greaves or cracklings which remain are used for making "dog biscuits," etc. The finest lard is prepared from the "leaf" fat of the abdominal cavity, and passes into commerce as "prime steam lard." The intestinal fat, trimmings, and refuse yield No. 2 lard, which is mostly sent to the European market. The summer-killed pigs yield on an average 34 lb of lard, while the winter-killed animals produce about 37 lb, but in the case of selected animals these figures may rise to 45 lb and 54 lb respectively. The uses of lard are numerous : it is largely employed by biscuit and pastry bakers and in domestic cookery; it is used in the dressing and currying of leather; it is an important article in pharmacy for ointments, plaisters, and suppositories; it forms a principal ingredient in many pomades and preparations for the toilet; and it is the source of the important lard oil and "solar stearin" noted below. Lard is occasionally adulterated with water up even to 20 per cent., with starch, chalk, plaster of Paris, baryta, &c. Such falsifications, owing to the nature of the substance, are easily detected: – the water by bringing the substance gently to the melting point when it separates; starch by the characteristic reaction with iodine; and mineral substance by the ash remaining after the burning of the fat. The imports into the United Kingdom in 1880 amounted to 927,512 cwts., value £1,852,160, – the very large proportion of 873,100 cwts. coming from the United States, and 46,618 from British North America. A large amount of native lard is also consumed in the United Kingdom, this being usually put up in bladders for sale. That prepared in Wiltshire is the most highly prized, and is the quality generally used in domestic cookery.
Lard oil is the limpid, clear, colourless oil expressed by pressure and gentle heat from lard, leaving a solid, glistening, and crystalline residue, known in commerce as "solar stearin," which is useful in candle making, but is also used to adulterate spermaceti. Lard oil has now
