the LARCH-TREE; a genus of plants by Linnaeus classified along with the Pinus; but as Tournefort and all former botanists have separated them on account of the form of their leaves, and they are pretty generally known by these distinctions, we shall adopt the distinction in order to avoid confusion.

Species. There are two species, viz. the decidua, with deciduous leaves, and oval obtuse cones; and the cedar of Libanus. The first sort grows naturally upon the Alps and Apennines, and of late has been very much propagated in Britain. It is of quick growth, and the trunk rises to 50 feet or more; the branches are slender, their ends generally hanging downward, and are garnished with long narrow leaves which arise in clusters from one point, spreading open above like the hairs of a painter's brush: they are of a light green, and fall away in autumn. In the month of April the male flowers appear, which are disposed in form of small cones; the female flowers are collected into oval obtuse cones, which in some species have bright purple tops, and in others they are white: these differences are accidental; the cones are about an inch long, obtuse at their points; the scales are smooth, and lie over each other: under each scale there are generally lodged two seeds which have wings. There are other two varieties of this tree, one of which is a native of America and the other of Siberia. The cones of the American kind which have been brought to Britain seem in general to be larger than those of the common sort.

The second sort, or cedar of Libanus, is a tree of antiquity; and what is remarkable, it is not to be found as a native in any other part of the world, as far as hath yet been discovered. What we find mentioned in Scripture of the lofty cedars, can be nowadays applicable to the common growth of this tree; since, from the experience we have of those now growing in England, as also from the testimony of several travellers who have visited those few remaining trees on mount Libanus, they are not inclined to grow very lofty, but on the contrary extend their branches very far; to which the allusion made by the Psalmist agrees very well, when he is describing the flourishing state of a people, and says, "They shall spread their branches like the cedar-tree."

Rawlins, in his Travels, says, there were not at that time (i.e. anno 1574) upon mount Libanus more than 25 trees remaining, 24 of which stood in a circle; and the other two, which stood at a small distance, had their branches almost consumed with age; nor could he find any younger tree coming up to succeed them, though he looked about diligently for some. These trees (he says) were growing at the foot of a small hill, on the top of the mountains, and amongst the snow. These having very large branches, commonly bend the tree to one side, but are extended to a great length, and in so delicate and pleasant order, as if they were trimmed and made even with great diligence, by which they are easily distinguished, at a great distance, from fir-trees. The leaves (continues he) are very like to those of the larch-tree, growing close together in little branches upon small brown shoots.

Maundrel, in his Travels, says, there were but 16 large trees remaining when he visited the mountains, some of which were of a prodigious bulk, but that there were many more young ones of a smaller size; he measured one of the largest, and found it to be 12 yards six inches in girt, and yet found, and 37 yards in the spread of its boughs. At about five or six yards from the ground it was divided into five limbs, each of which was equal to a great tree. What Maundrel hath related was confirmed by a gentleman who was there in the year 1720, with this difference only, viz. in the dimensions of the branches of the largest tree, which he measured, and found to be 22 yards diameter. Now, whether Mr Maundrel meant 37 yards in circumference of the spreading branches, or the diameter of them, cannot be determined by his words; yet either of them well agrees with this last account.

Culture. These plants are propagated by sowing in March on a bed of light earth exposed to the morning sun. The seed must be covered half an inch thick with fine light earth, and the beds watered at times when the weather is dry. In about six weeks the plants will appear; they must at this time be carefully guarded from the birds, shaded from the sun and winds, and kept very clear of weeds. In the latter end of April the following year, they may be removed into beds of fresh earth, placing them at ten inches distance every way. They are to be kept here two years, and such of them as seem to bend must be tied up to a stake to keep them upright. They may afterwards be planted in the places where they are to remain. They thrive well on the sides of barren hills, and make a very pretty figure there.

Use. From the larch-tree is extracted what we erroneously call Venice turpentine. This substance, or natural balsam, flows at first without incision; when it has done dropping, the poor people who wait in the fir-woods, make incisions at about two or three feet from the ground, into the trunk of the trees, into which they fix narrow troughs about 20 inches long. The end of these troughs is hollowed like a ladle; and in the middle is a small hole bored for the turpentine to run into the receiver which is placed below it. As the gummy substance runs from the trees, it passes along the sloping gutter or trough to the ladle, and from thence runs thro' the holes into the receiver. The people who gather it visit the trees morning and evening from the end of May to September, to collect the turpentine out of the receivers. When it flows out of the tree, Venice turpentine is clear, like water, and of a yellowish white; but, as it grows older, it thickens, and becomes of a citron colour. It is procured in the greatest abundance in the neighbourhood of Lyons, and in the valley of St Martin, near St Lucern in Switzerland. For the properties and uses of the cedar of Lebanon, see the article Cedar.