rower, and the Acorns are of the Hune fize and ihape, 

 ■ fo that 1 fulped their difference is owing to the Toil 

 in which they grow. 



The thirteenth fort is generally known by the title of 

 Ilex, or evergreen Oak ; of this there are feveral va- 

 rieties, which differ greatly in the fize and fliape of 

 their leaves •, but thele will all arife from Acorns of the 

 fame tree, as I have feveral times experienced •, nay, 

 the lower and upper branches of the fame tree are 

 frequently garnilhed with leaves, very different in fize 

 and ihape from each other; thofe on the lower 

 branches being much broader, rounder, and their 

 edges indented and fetwith prickles, but thofe on the 

 upper are long, narrow, and entire ; fo that I verily 

 believe they are all but one fpecies, except the Kermes 

 Oak, which is undoubtedly a diftinft fort. The leaves 

 of the Ilex are from three to four inches long, and 

 one broad near the bafe, gradually leffening to a point-, 

 they are of a lucid green on their upper fide, but 

 whitifh and downy on their under, and are entire. 

 Handing upon pretty long foot-ftalks •, thefe remain 

 green all the year, and do not fall till they are thruft 

 off by young leaves in the fpring. The Acorns are 

 fmaller than thofe of the common Oak, but of the 



fame fhape. 



The fourteenth fort is fuppofed to be a different fpe- 

 cies, but of this I much doubt, having raifed fome 

 plants from the Acorns of the thirteenth, whofe leaves 

 . are fo like thofe of this, as not to be diftinguifhed 

 ' from them ;' thefe are fhorter and broader than the 

 ■ ' other, and approach in Ihape to thofe of the Holly- 

 tree, and are alfo fet with prickles on their edges. 

 The fifteenth fort is the Oak, from which the kermes, 

 or what is called fcarlet grain is colledted, which is an 

 infedt that harbours on this tree. It grows naturally 

 in Provence and Languedoc, where it is known by 

 the title d'Avaux. This is of fmall growth, feldom 

 ''■^' rifins: above twelve or fourteen feet high, Icndinsrout 

 "^'branches on every fide the whole length, fo as to form 

 *• ' a biirtiy flirub ; 'ffie leaves are oval and undivided ; 

 * I:thev are fmooth on their furface, but indented on 





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their" edges, which are armed with prickles like thofe 



The Acorns are fmaller than thofe 



of the Holly-tree. 

 ''}^^ of the common Oak, 





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The fixteenth fort grows naturally m Carolina and 



!' Virginia, where it rifes to the height of forty feet. 



^ The grain of the wood is hard, tough,' and coarfe ; 



the bark is grayifh -, the leaves are ovally fpear-fhaped, 



about three inches long and one and a half broad, 



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entire, and of a dark green, ftanding upon fliort foot- 

 ftalks ; they are of a thick confiftence, and continue 

 green all the year. The Acorns are fmall, oblong, 

 'and have fhort cups ; they are very fwee't, fo are eaten 

 by the Indians, who lay them up in ftore for the 

 winter; they alfo draw a very fweet oil from them, 

 little inferior to that of fweet Almonds. This is call- 

 ed the Live Oak in America. 





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The feventeenth fort is the tree whofe bark Is the 

 cork ; of this there are two or three varieties, viz. 

 one with a broad, another with a narrow leaf, which 



are 



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and there is one or two "which caft 

 their leaves in autumn, but the Hroad-leaved ever- 

 green is the 



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i the other may probably 

 l^ be only varieties arifing by accident. The leaves of 

 this are entire, of an oblong oval, about two inches 

 ;. long, and one and a quarter broad, fawed on their 

 edges, and ^avc a little down on their under fides j 

 their foot-ftalks are very fhort 1 tliefe leaves continue 

 green through the winter till the middle of May, when 

 they generally fall ofFjuft before the new leaves come 

 out, !o thaf the trees are very often almoft bare for a 

 Ihort time. The Acorns are very like thofe of the 

 common Oak. 



^ ' ' 



The exterior bark of this tree is the cork ; this is 

 taken off from the trees every eight or ten years, but 



is an interior bark which nourifhes the trees, fo 

 that the ftrip^Tng off the outer is fo far from injuring 

 them, that it is necefTary to continue the trees ; for 

 thofe whofe bark are not taken off, feldom laft longer 



than fifty or fixty years in health" ^ whereas the trees 





v/luch are barked every eight or ten years, will Hve 

 a hundred and fifty years and more.' The bark of 

 the young tree is porous and good for little, how.^ver 

 It IS neccffary to take it off when the trees are twd/e 

 or fifteen years old, without which the bark will not 

 be good, and after eight or ten years, the bark will 

 be fit to take off again ; but this fccond peelincr jj 

 of little ufe, but the thirL\ peeling the bark wiif b'i 

 in perfeftion, and will continue fo many years, for 

 the bed cork is taken froni the old trees. The time 

 of year for ftripping off this bark is in July, when 

 the fecond fap fiows plentifully ; this is performed 

 with an inftrument, like that ufed for dilbarkinj 

 Oaks. The aihes of burnt cork mixed with frelli 

 butter, and made into an ointment, is much recom- 

 mended for the piles. 



All the forts of Oaks are propagated by fowino^ tlieir 

 Acorns, and the fooner they are put into the ground ■ 

 after they are ripe, the better they will fuccec^ •, for 

 theyare very apt to fprout where they are fpread thin, 

 and if they are laid in heaps, they ferment and rot in ' 

 a little time J ^ therefore the befl: feafon for fowing iheni 

 is in the beginning of November, by which time they 

 will be fallen from the trees, 



I ftiall firft give fome direftions for raifing the feveral 

 forts of Oaks in a nurfery, which are intended to be 

 planted out for ornament, where th, ir timber is not 

 to be regarded. Thefe Acorns may be fown in beds 

 about four feet wide, with paths of two feet broad 

 between them 5 in thefe beds there may be four rows 

 fown, at about nine inches diftance from each other; 

 when the beds are marked out, there fhould be drill 

 drawn with a hoe in a ftrait line, into v/hich the 

 Acorns fliould be dropped at about two or three inches 

 ■ 'diftance ; then they muft be carefully covered over 

 i with the earth two inches thick, leaving none of them 



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■uncovered, which might tempt the vermin, for if 



jFthey once find_themi putj they.. wijl make fad havock 

 Cpf the Acorns. rrV^ 



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n the fpring, when the plants begin to appear, you 



.muft carefully clear them from weeds"; and if the 

 Jealbn prbves"^dry,~ you fliould refrefli theiri'now and 

 'then,with a little water," which will greatly promote 

 their growth. Jn^thefe beds the plants fliould remain 

 .until the following autumn (obferving conftantly to 

 '^keep them clear from weeds ;) at which time you 

 fliould prepare a fpot of good frefl:i earth (in fize pro- 

 portionable to the quantity of plants,) which fliould 

 be well trenched and levelled ; then tov/ard the mid- 

 dle or latter end of Ofrober, you fliould carefully 

 take. up the plants, fo as not to injure their roots, 

 and plant them out in rows three feet afunder, and 

 eighteen inches diftance plant from plant ; obferving 

 never to fuffer the plants to abide long out of' the 

 ground, becaufe their roots v/ould dry and endanger 

 their growth. ^. -\. . .\^. ■ ., .v^;/'- 



^"^hen the plants have taken root in this nurfery, 

 they will require litde more care than to keep them 

 clear from weeds, and dig the ground between the 

 rows every fpring ; in doing of which, yoii fliould 

 cut off fuch roots as extend very far from the trunk 

 of the trees', "which will render them better for tranf- 



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planting again ; you "'IKould alfo prune off fuch fide- 

 branches as extend thernfelves very, far, and would 

 retard the upright flioot'i but you fhould by no 

 means cut 6ff all the fmall lateral branches, fome of 

 which are abfolutely neceffary to be left on, to de- 

 tain the fap for the augmentation of the trunk ; for 

 I have often obferved, where trees have been thus 

 clofely pruned, that their heads have overgrown their 



bodies, fo that they have bent downward and become 



crooked. *. ■ " '^ "'' '■ '-.- • ."■•'; . ^ 



When thefe trees have remained in the nurfery three 



or four years, they will then be large enough to 

 tranfplant to the places where they are to remain ; 

 for it is not proper to let them grow very large before 

 they are planted out, becaufe thefe are very hazard- 

 ous trees to remove when old, or after they have tal^en 

 ' deep root" . 



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