more or less watery, according to the soil and locality in which it grows, and naturally weighs more from a warm climate and dry soil, and when the tree has attained its maturity, than under contrary circumstances. ⚫ Tredgold observes that the wood of the Q. sessiliflòra, which is of a darker colour than that of the Q. pedunculata, is also heavier, harder, and more elastic. To ascertain their relative value, he tried an experiment, and the following table exhibits the results : Specific gravity Weight of a cubic foot in lbs. Comparative stiffness, or weight that bent the piece 7-20ths of an inch Weight of modulus of elasticity in lbs. for a square inch "Each piece was lin. square, and sustained by supports 2ft. apart, the weight being applied to the middle of the length. Both specimens broke short off without splitting the Q. sessiliflòra bent considerably more at the time of fracture than the Q. pedunculata. The strength, elasticity, toughness, and hardness of the sessile-fruited'oak would render it," he continues, "superior for ship-building, were it not so inferior in durability between wind and water, to the Q. pedunculata, or stalk-fruited kind." The wood of Q. pedunculata, according to Atkinson (Hort. Trans., 2d ser., vol. i. p. 336.), splits clean, and is best adapted for split paling, laths, barrel staves, dowels for flooring, and similar uses; and as it contains a greater quantity of the silver grain, or medullary rays, which, when the wood is planed, the workmen call the flower in the wood, it is more ornamental as furniture. The wood of Q. sessiliflòra, on the contrary, contains so small a portion of the silver grain, or flower, that wood of this species from old buildings has generally been mistaken for that of the sweet chestnut. This discovery was simultaneously made by Fougeroux and Daubenton about the year 1780. (See Mém. Scien. Mathe. de l'Institut, &c., 1. Trèm. 1807, p. 307.) Atkinson adds that the wood of Q. pedunculata is stiffer than that of Q. sessiliflòra; and, though it may be broken with a less weight, yet it requires a much greater weight to bend it than Q. sessiliflora does; and it is, therefore, better calculated for beams, or to bear the greatest weight in a building without bending. The wood of Q. sessiliflòra, according to Bosc and other French authors, though good for nothing for ship-building, because it soon rots under water, is of such great duration when kept dry, that the roofs of many of the old churches and cathedrals of France, which are framed of it, have lasted many centuries, without being in the slightest degree deteriorated. It also makes better fuel than that of Q. pedunculata. Nichols appears to refer to Q. pedunculata, when he speaks of "the true English oak, such as are standing about Rinefield Lodge," in the New Forest; "finer trees, or better timber for ship-building, than which, I believe," he adds, are not to be found in the kingdom." Another oak, which, he says, "the workmen in the forest call the durmast oak," and which, from his reference to Miller's Dictionary, and his observations in another work, appears to be the Q. sessilifòra, has the wood "not so strong, hard, or durable, as that of the English oak," which, he continues," is well known all over the world as preferable for ship-building." The difference between the quality of these two kinds of oak, he adds, was not known in the year 1700, when some of the enclosures in the forest were planted with acorns taken from the durmast oak. (Observations on Oak Trees, &c., in a Letter to the Earl of Chatham, p. 26.) This durmast oak, he describes (in a Letter on a new Way of planting Acorns, &c., included in his Methods for decreasing the Consumption of Timber in the Navy, &c.) as having "the acorns in clusters close to the twig, without any footstalks; and the leaves with short stalks, usually about half an inch in length." (p. 67.) The acorns of the true English oak, on the other hand, he says, "grow on fruit stalks, like cherries, from about 1 in. to 2 in. in length; and the leaves sit close to the twig, without the intervention of any footstalks." (p. 66.) This was published in 1793, a circumstance which we consider worthy of notice, as proving that the superiority of the timber of Q. pedunculata was known to practical men before that period. In 1827, an experiment was made in the New Forest, Hampshire, with a piece of the best oak timber grown in the forest that could be procured. It was reduced to the dimensions of 5 in. square, and 11 ft. long, placed on two firm supports, exactly 11 ft. apart; and it was found that 43 tons 3 qr. 17 lb. were required to break the beam. The experiment was performed in the presence of Lord Lowther, at that time First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and other government officers; and an account of it was laid before the Royal Institution in June, 1827. Whatever may have been established theoretically respecting the comparative properties of the wood of the two species, yet, practically, they are almost alike employed both in territorial and naval constructions and machinery. The wood of the oak is more durable, in every state in which it can be placed, than that of any other tree which abounds in large quantities in Europe. It is hard, tough, tolerably flexible, strong, without being too heavy, not easy to splinter, and not readily penetrated by water; and hence its value in shipbuilding. Some woods are harder, but they are more fragile; and others are more flexible, but do not possess so much toughness, hardness, and durability. Where the grain is twisted, no timber is so well adapted for posts, either in house-building or in setting up mills, engines, or large machines. No wood lasts longer where it is subject to be alternately wet and dry; and oak piles have been known to endure many centuries. Shingles, pales, and laths last longer of this wood than of any other; and casks, and every other description of cooper's work, are most durable, and best adapted for containing wines, ales, and other liquors, when they are made of oak. Oak timber is particularly esteemed for the spokes of wheels, for which the small slow-growing oak of mountainous districts is greatly preferred to the more rapid-growing and larger oak of the valleys. Oaks of from 15 to 30 years' growth make the most durable poles. The young tree, when from 5 ft. to 10 ft. high, makes excellent hoops, which, Evelyn says, we ought to substitute for those of hazel and ash, as they are six times more durable: it also makes the very best walkingsticks, and very good handles to carters' whips. Of the roots, Evelyn says, were formerly made hafts to daggers, handles to knives, tobacco-boxes, mathematical instruments, tablets for artists to paint on instead of canvass, and elegant camleted joiners' work. Oak wood, every one knows, is preferred before all others for ship-building, in the temperate regions of both hemispheres. The Q. pedunculata (the chêne blanc of the French), from its toughness, does not splinter when it is struck by a cannon ball, and the hole made by a ball is consequently much easier to plug up; but it is said, on the other hand, that this species, when it is grown in good soil, somewhat moist, contains a great deal of white or sap wood, which soon begins to decay, and, proceeding rapidly, ultimately destroys the heart wood. (Nich. Obs., &c., p. 44.) Secondat (Mém. du Chêne, p. 3.) attributes the property of not splintering, when pierced with bullets, to the wood of Q. sessiliflòra; which, he says, the English had a great deal of formerly, and valued highly for the construction of ships, and which he describes as a tree attaining a prodigious size and height, and only succeeding in good soil: but, as these characters belong more to Q. pedunculata than to Q. sessiliflòra, at least according to Willdenow, Bosc, and other authors, we conclude that Secondat has here mistaken the name of the kind to which he has assigned these properties. The best oak for ship purposes, according to Jaume St. Hilaire, is that which is grown in the south of France; and the best ships in the world, he says, are built in Toulon, or in Spain. The worst oak for ship-building, according to this author, is that sent to Britain from Dantzic, and other ports of the Baltic. The bark of both species is indiscriminately used for tanning, though that of Q. sessiliflora is said to be the best. The bark of either species affords a substance which has been substituted for quinine; and, according to Cullen and others, a decoction of oak bark has been used for diseases of the throat, &c. The bark which contains the greatest quantity of tannin is obtained from those parts of the branches or trunks which are of from 20 to 30 years' growth; and hence the bark of an oak coppice of 20 or 30 years' growth is worth more to the tanner, than the same weight of bark taken from the trunk and branches of old trees. Every part of the tree, however, abounds in astringent matter; and even the leaves and sawdust will tan leather, linen cloth, netting, or cordage, which is to be much exposed to the weather. An infusion of the bark, with copperas, dyes woollen of a purplish blue. The Highlanders, according to Lightfoot, dye their yarn of a brown colour with oak bark; and the same thing is practised in Sweden, and other countries, where, like the bark of the birch and some other trees, it is made to perform the office of tanning and dyeing at the same time. The acorns of both species are alike sought after for feeding swine; but, according to the French authors, they are produced in the greatest quantities by the sessile-fruited oak, and of the largest size from the pedunculated species. According to Evelyn, a peck of acorns a day, with a little bran, will make a hog increase a pound weight per day for two months together. Cato recommends acorns to be given to oxen, mixed with beans and lupines. In British parks, acorns form an important part of the winter food of deer; and, were the tree substituted for the elm, the ash, and a number of others which are planted in hedgerows, there would be a general supply throughout the country for pigs, and also for game; since it is certain that they are eaten both by pheasants and partridges in England, and by turkeys in America. Acorns are given raw or boiled to poultry; and it is said to be easy to accustom horses, cattle, and sheep to eat them. Acorns, roasted and treated like coffee, are said to afford a liquor which closely resembles that beverage; and when sprouted acorns are treated like malt, they afford a liquor from which a very strong spirit may be distilled. According to Bosc, this is practised in various parts of the north of Europe. The leaves of both species, gathered green, and dried, are said to furnish an excellent winter forage for sheep, goats, deer, &c. The leaves, after they have dropped from the tree, are swept up, and used in gardening as a substitute for tanner's bark, in producing heat by fermentation in hot-houses, pits, &c. The Use of the Oak in Landscape has been pointed out by Gilpin with his usual force and effect. "It is a happiness," he says, "to the lovers of the picturesque, that this noble plant is as useful as it is beautiful. From the utility of the oak they derive this advantage, that it is every where found. Many kinds of wood are harder, as box and ebony; many kinds are tougher, as yew and ash; but it is supposed that no species of wood, at least no species of timber, is possessed of both these qualities together in so great a degree as the British oak. Almost all arts and manufactures are indebted to it; but in ship-building, and bearing burdens, its elasticity and strength are applied to most advantage. I mention these mechanical uses only because some of its chief beauties are connected with them. Thus, it is not the erect stately tree that is always the most useful in ship-building; but more often the crooked one, forming short turns and elbows, which the shipwrights and carpenters commonly call knee-timber. This, too, is generally the most picturesque. Nor is it the straight tall stem, the fibres of which run in parallel lines, that is the most useful in bearing burdens; but that which has its sinews twisted and spirally combined. This, too, is the most picturesque. Trees, under these circumstances, generally take the most pleasing forms. We seldom see the oak, like other trees, take a twisted form from the winds. It generally preserves its balance; which is one of the grand picturesque beauties of every The oak, like other trees, shrinks from the sea air [see p. 195. fig. 1.]: but this indicates no weakness; for the sea air, like a pestilential disease, attacks the strongest constitutions. A second characteristic of the oak is the tree. : stoutness of its limbs. We know tree, except, perhaps, the cedar of Lebanon, so remarkable in this respect. The limbs of most trees spring from the trunk in the oak they may be rather said to divide from it; for they generally carry with them a great share of the substance of the stem. You often scarcely know which is stem and which is branch; and, towards the top, the stem is entirely lost in the branches. This gives particular propriety to the epithet 'fortes,' in characterising the branches of the oak; and hence its sinewy elbows are of such peculiar use in ship-building. Whoever, therefore, does not mark the 'fortes ramos' of the oak, might as well, in painting a Hercules, omit his muscles. But I speak only of the hardy veterans of the forest. In the effeminate nurslings of the grove we have not this appearance. There the tree is all stem drawn up into height. When we characterise a tree, we consider it in its natural state, insulated, and without any lateral pressure. In a forest, trees naturally grow in that manner. The seniors depress all the juniors that attempt to rise near them; but in a planted grove all grow up together, and none can exert any power over another. The next characteristic of the oak is the twisting of its branches. Examine the ash, the elm, the beech, or almost any other tree, and you may observe in what direct and straight lines the branches in each shoot from the stem; whereas the limbs of an oak are continually twisting here and there in various contortions, and, like the course of a river, sport and play in every possible direction; sometimes in long reaches, and sometimes in shorter elbows. There is not a characteristic more peculiar to the oak than this. "Another peculiarity of the oak is its expansive spread. This, indeed, is a just characteristic of the oak; for its boughs, however twisted, continually take a horizontal direction, and overshadow a large space of ground. Indeed, where it is fond of its situation, and has room to spread, it extends itself beyond any other tree; and, like a monarch, takes possession of the soil. The last characteristic of the oak is its longevity, which extends beyond that of any other tree: perhaps the yew may be an exception. I mention the circumstance of its longevity, as it is that which renders it so singularly picturesque. It is through age that the oak acquires its greatest beauty; which often continues increasing even into decay, if any proportion exist between the stem and the branches. When the branches rot away, and the forlorn trunk is left alone, the tree is in its decrepitude-in the last stage of life, and all beauty is gone." Gilpin concludes this characteristic description with the following words : — " I have dwelt the longer on the oak, as it is confessedly both the most picturesque tree in itself, and the most accommodating in composition. It refuses no subject either in natural or in artificial landscape. It is suited to the grandest, and may with propriety be introduced into the most pastoral. It adds new dignity to the ruined tower and Gothic arch: by stretching its wild moss-grown branches athwart their ivied walls, it gives them a kind of majesty coeval with itself; at the same time, its propriety is still preserved, if it throw its arms over the purling brook, or the mantling pool, where it beholds 'Its reverend image in th' expanse below.' Milton introduces it happily even in the lowest scene : — 'Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes Some valuable remarks on the picturesque beauty of the oak, and on its delineation, will be found in the Magazine of Natural History, communicated by Mr. Strutt, unquestionably the best delineator of trees in this or any other country. "European trees," he observes, " may by the painter be divided into four classes; the round-topped, as the oak, chestnut, elm, willow, ash, beech, &c. ; . the spiry-topped, as the different species of the fir tribe; the shaggy-topped, comprehending those of the pine; and the slender-formed, as the Lombardy poplar and the cypress. In the first of these classes, foremost in dignity and grandeur, the oak stands preeminent, and, like the lion among beasts, is the 1630 undoubted lord of the forest. Beauty, united with strength, characterises all its parts. The leaves, elegant in their outline, are strongly ribbed, and firmly attached to the spray, which, although thin and excursive, is yet bold and determined in its angles; whilst the abrupt and tortuous irregularity of its massive branches admirably contrasts with the general richness and density of its clustered foliage. Even as a sapling, in its slender gracefulness it exhibits sufficient firmness and indications of vigour to predicate the future monarch of the wood; a state, indeed, which it is slow to assume, but which it retains per sæcula longa; and when at length it is brought to acknowledge the influence of time, and becomes bald with dry antiquity,' no other production of the forest can be admitted as its rival in majestic and venerable decay. The general form of the oak is expansive, luxuriant, and spreading. Its character, both with respect to its whole and to its larger masses of foliage, is best expressed by the pencil, in bold and roundish lines, whether as single trees, as groups (fig. 1630.), or as forming the line of a distant forest (figs. 1629. and 1631.); although, when growing more closely together, they assume a loftier and less spreading appearance than the more solitary tree, such as Mason has so beautifully described in his Caractacus: Behold yon oak, How stern he frowns, and with his broad brawn arms The sketches figs. 1632. and 1633., which are also drawn by Mr. Strutt, will more distinctly exemplify his position; exhibiting, in distinct distances, Of these sketches, the same general appearance in the contour of the trees. 6 A |