OX THE DECREASE OF THE OAK IN BRITAIN. 185 



committing. We boast of our wooden walls and English Oak, without making 

 any attempt at securing a right to continue those expressions. 



But it is to The Naturalist I am writing, and not for the purpose of shewing 

 what the probable consequence of this decrease may be in an economical or 

 political point of view. 



To the naturalist, then, there will be much cause for regret ; he has to lament, 

 not only the decrease of one of the finest productions of Nature, but the propor- 

 tional increase of the Larch and Fir — trees suited to but a very small part of the 

 scenery of this island. Instead of the beautiful and varied greens of the Oak, 

 mingled with the lighter Ash, we now look upon square masses of Larch, here 

 and there interspersed with the cold blue of the Scotch Fir. 



" O Harmony, once more from heaven descend ! 



Mould the stiff lines and the harsh colours blend : 



Banish the formal Fir's unsocial shade, 



And crop the aspiring Larch's saucy head : 



Then Britain's genius to thy aid invoke, 



And spread around the rich high clustering Oak ; 



King of the woods ! whose towering branches trace 



Each form of majesty, and line of grace : 



Whose giant arms, and high-embower'd head, } 



Deep masses round of clustering foliage spread, 



In various shapes projecting to the view 



And clothed in tints of Nature's richest hue ; — 



Tints, that still vary with the varying year, 



And with new beauties every month appear : 



From the bright green of the first vernal bloom, 



To the deep brown of autumn's solemn gloom. 



Each single tree too, differing from the rest, 



And in peculiar shades of verdure dressed, 



Spreads a soft tinge of variegated green, 



Diffused, not scatter'd, o'er the waving scene." Knight's Landscape. 



What can be more beautiful than an Oak forest ? Viewed at any time of the 

 year it presents to the lover of Nature charms which can seldom be equalled, 

 never surpassed. Go visit it in summer, and while reclining beneath the shade, 

 the eye will be feasted with a thousand bright and lovely objects. The Ferns 

 and Mosses, and a variety of plants and shrubs — each an object of endless attrac- 

 tion to an observing and contemplative mind — find shade and protection beneath 

 the huge and twisted branches of Oak. In winter, when other trees stand bare 

 and naked to the blast, many species of Oak still retain their leaves, which are 

 only lost when the germinating bud of the succeeding leaf gradually displaces 

 them. In winter, too, the Mosses appear in their greatest beauty ; and the 

 oblique rays of the sun falling on the rain-drops which hang in countless thou- 



