H. 1. THE OAK. 121 



only by the live oak. It was used for the frames of buildings, 

 in preference to any other timber, until it became too scarce 

 and dear. For strength, hardness, toughness, and durableness 

 united, it is unsurpassed, although each of these properties sin- 

 gly is found in a greater degree in some other wood. It is 

 almost indispensable in the manufacture of implements of hus- 

 bandry, and in all kinds of wheel-work. It makes the most 

 valuable tables and chairs, and it would be used by the joiner, 

 on account of its superior beauty, for the finishing of houses, 

 were it not for the property which shows its superiority, its 

 hardness. When employed for ornamental uses, the wood 

 should be cut obliquely to exhibit the reddish silver grain. 

 As an ornament to the landscape, or as a single object, no other 

 tree is to be compared with it, in every period of its growth, for 

 picturesqueness, majesty, and inexhaustible variety of beauty. 

 The main root of the oak, where the soil is favorable, de- 

 scends to a great depth, compared with its height, especially in 

 young trees, and it stretches to a distance horizontally, and that 

 at a considerable depth, equal to the spread of the branches, 

 thus taking a stronger hold of the earth than any other tree of 

 the forest. It does not often tower upwards to so magnificent a 

 height as many other trees, but, when standing alone, it throws 

 out its mighty arms with an air of force and grandeur, which 

 have made it every where to be considered the fittest emblem of 

 strength and power of resistance. And deservedly ; — no tree in 

 New England is to be compared to the oak in this respect, save 

 the tupelo, and that in very rare instances. Nothing gave so 

 vivid an impression of the irresistible force of the wind, in the 

 great hurricane of 1815, as its laying prostrate even the oak. 

 For, commonly, the oak braves the storm, to the last, without 

 yielding, better than any other tree. The limbs go out at a great 

 angle, and stretch horizontally to a vast distance. This, with 

 the great size of the limbs, is its striking character, and what 

 gives it its peculiar appearance. They do not always go 

 straight out, but crook and bend, to right and left, upwards 

 and downwards, abruptly or with a gentle sweep. The smaller 

 branches preserve, in a considerable degree, the character of the 

 limbs, and the spray varies with the species. So do the leaves ; 

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