64 Thomas Brown, Esq. (m the Caledonian Porest. 



oak trees was decidedly continued by those acorns which fell, and 

 which were covered with the soil, and, in this way, escaped from 

 becoming the food of the wild boar, or of other animals. 



In the present day, in Scotland, indeed, we have hardly any 

 oaks sufficient in maturity to produce a crop of ripe acorns, and, 

 of course, we must bring our seed from England, where adult 

 trees are abundant ; but this is no proof that our climate is in- 

 capable of producing acorns sufficiently ripened for growth. It 

 merely proves, that our adult trees are so few, that acorns can 

 be collected more easily in England, and that a greater propor- 

 tion of these, in consequence of superior climate and shelter, 

 are productive. We have a number of large plantations of oak 

 in different situations, but these are professed to be almost en- 

 tirely intended for copse wood, yet no tree seems to be more ad* 

 mirably suited to the moist atmosphere of the west of Scotland 

 than the oak ; nor more calculated to thrive almost on every 

 variety of soil, and even at a great height above the sea. 



In these high situations, if they be even moderately sheltered, 

 we find this tree growing freely on dry gravel, as where the 

 large oak was found, on a spot consisting entirely of the diluvium 

 formed from the decay of trap rocks; but, in the immediate 

 neighbourhood, it grows almost equally well on very different 

 soils, on decomposed whin, on earthy loam, and on stiff clay, and 

 even at a height not less than 800 feet above the sea. 



In common circumstances, the oak, for a ^^^^ years after be- 

 ing planted, chiefly in consequence of a bad mode of manage- 

 ment, is slow in its progress. It is soon overtopped by the 

 quick-growing Scotch fir, the larch, or the spruce fir, which are 

 very properly mixed with it. It is neglected, and very often 

 dies. With moderate care, however, it soon begins to grow ra- 

 pidly, and it keeps pace, nearly, with any other forest tre?. 



In this essay, I am well aware that conjecture may appear 

 to have been too frequently employed ; but, at all events, our 

 large moss tree proves how favourable the climate of Scotland 

 was, and probably still is, for the growth of the oak. 



