STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 157 



should live, and die, and desire to be buried under tbeir protecting arms. 

 Many a time have we heard the wolfish w'ind liowl, and listened to his 

 dying sigh in the distance, because he could not reach the flock 'neath 

 the firm foliage, while the gentle breeze, only, was astir in the woods, 

 with us. "Woodman, spare that tree!" And while falling from the 

 infirmities of age, let us look well to it, that they shelter betimes those 

 that shall be worth}' to stand in their stead. Bear in. mind nature's 

 axiom — '• Pines in the path of oaks, and oaks in the path of pines" — the 

 divine law of rotation. 



As a matter of much scientific interest, we quote the careful and judi- 

 cious observations of Professor Bolander, in his paper on California 

 Trees, read before the California Academy of Natural Sciences : 



" November, A. D. 1865. 



" Q. agrifulia (Nees, etc.) 



" Oakland, banks of Sacramento Piver, Clear Lake, Pussian PiverYal- 

 ley, Anderson Valle}', and Monterey. Foliage extremely variable. On 

 river banks, and in expositions close to the coast, where it is almost daily 

 enwrapped in fogs, this species exhibits much uniformity. The figure of 

 Q. ojcyadenia in Sitgrcaves' Pepoit, represents this form of it very well. 

 In the valleys of the interior, the shapes of the leaves of one and the 

 same tree is very different; some have entire margins, while others 

 have them pretty deepl}* toothed ; often one side is whole, and the other 

 saw-toothed. Some trees occur of w4iich the young shoots have the 

 leaves 'coarsely sinuate-toothed, or obliquel}^ sinuate-toothed — teeth very 

 sharply acute, with a broad base, cuspidate-awMied;' and thus agree with 

 Dr. Kellogg's Q. morf'has, while tlie older branches have much smaller 

 entire leaves. In Anderson Valley I saw several trees whose entire 

 foliage agrees admirably with Dr. Kellogg's. Had I not seen that tree 

 on the shore of Borax Lake, exhibiting both forms, I should be inclined 

 to call it a good species. The cups of these trees have the scales long 

 and loosel}' lapped, and the acorn is almost entirely immersed ; but this is 

 also the case with some trees that have a far different foliage. Thus far, 

 I have not been able to find any good, distinctive, reliable characters. 

 There are transitions in all parts, even on the same tree. As the tree 

 has the habit of growing in groups, one might snpi)ose that ti"ees of one 

 group, at least, should show uniformity in botanical characters; but this 

 is not so : just the very exti'cmes may be found in one group. This 

 phenomenon I observed throughout the whole length of /Vnderson Val- 

 ley — a distance of eighteen miles. On dry gravelly hillsides in the inte- 

 rior, tlii.s tree presents still another form — Q. ]r/.s//:.7/;(' (Eng.) The acorns 

 ripen iuinually, and difter also essentially in shape and size. 



'•^oil, climate, and exposition, offer in this case no satisfactory expla- 

 nation for so great a variation in one species. Should it not be attribu- 

 ted to intrinsic peculiarities?" 



As a general remark, this may be considered a tree of value for many 

 mechanical ])urposes, althougii it varies somewhat in certain localities, 

 or if not, opinions certainly do; some speak of it, as relative to Califor- 

 nia, A Number 1. Its reputation, it is true, is veiy equivocal iu some 

 sections. Certainly, for firewood, it is regaixled as one of the best. 



