112 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



species of oaks arc well adapted for wind breaks or screens. Small trees can 

 serve for protection, and some of these in a screen can remain to grow longer 

 for timber. 



"A red oak in Lancaster, measured, in 1840, seventeen feet in circumference 

 at three feet from the ground." '• A white oak in Greenfield, Mass., in 1838, 

 measured seventeen feet five inches just above the root, and fifteen feet three 

 inches at three feet." "A white oak standing nearly opposite Deacon Nurse's, 

 in Bolton, measured, in 1840, nineteen feet just above the roots, and fourteen 

 feet at three feet from the ground." 



In the American Naturalist for 1872, Kobert Ridgeway gives a very interest- 

 ing account of the large trees growing in the lower Wabash valley, in Indiana. 

 Six trees of Spanish oak averaged l^Of feet in height, and a circumference of 

 17| feet each. The largest was 150 feet high, 75 feet to the first limb, and. '^0 

 feet in circumference. The largest bur-oak was 162 feet high and 21 feet in 

 circumference. The largest white oak was 142 feet high, 60 feet to the first 

 limb, and 17£ feet in circumference. "There are more truly majestic oaks in 

 the parks of England than are to be fouud in the whole cultivated portion of 

 the United States." 



"There are several oaks in England which are from 500 to 1,000 years old 

 or upwards. There are some which are believed to have been old trees at the 

 time of William the Conqueror." 



None of these old oaks are remarkable for their height, but the circumfer- 

 ence of the trunk and of the top is quite wonderful. 



The tallest of British oaks of which I find any account is one at Studley 

 Park. It is 118 feet high, with a girt of trunk 33^ feet; diameter of top 96 

 feet. 



"The Hemstead oak, near Soffron Walden, has a trunk about 53 feet in 

 circumference; the Boddington oak in Gloucestershire measured 54 feet in 

 circumference; the Merton oak, in Norfolk, 63 feet ; and, largest of all, the 

 Bowharpe oak, in Yorkshire, 78 feet in circumference. This largest tree, 

 three feet from the ground, measured 48 feet around. 



The greatest height of the branches, most of which are dead, is 56 feet. 

 On account of the mild climate of Great Britain, trees often continue to live 

 and grow for a long time after the top or trunk is much damaged by death and 

 decay. 



" An oak between Newham Courtney and Clifton, shaded a circumference 

 of 560 yards, under which 2,4^0 men might have commodiously taken shelter. 

 The immense spread oak in Norkshop Park, spread between the ends of its op- 

 posite branches, of 180 feet. It dripped over an area of nearly 3,000 square 

 yards, which is above half an acre; and would have afforded shelter to a regi- 

 ment of nearly 1,000 horse." 



"Humboldt refers to an oak in the Department de la Charante Inferieure, 

 measuring nearly ninety feet in circumference near the base." 



In a new country, the pioneer is not likely to entertain any great respect or 

 reverence for huge trees. He thinks of the labor required to cut it down and 

 get it out of the way. Perhaps he is interested in the bees which may occupy 

 a large hollow, or the raccoons which have worn off the rough bark in making 

 its ascent. He may think of its value for fence-rails, staves, or possibly for 

 boards. Our forefathers had pleasant associations in reference to the famous 

 charter oak. 



There are many large or old oak trees in Europe, some of which are quite cele- 

 brated. In France, at Allonville, a large oak contains a chapel in which 



