236 



WISCONSIN AGRICULTURE. 



beautiful, and ever moving. The silvery under surface of the 

 large leaves of the burr-oak is turned up by a gentle wind, and 

 gives its brilliant hues to the landscape. 



It has been recently stated 

 (with how much truth I know 

 not) that acorns should be 

 planted on the surface of the 

 ground. They should be 

 covered with leaves, held 

 down by small stones. The 

 oak trees cannot be trans- 

 planted without great care 

 and skill ; but their growth 

 from the seed is quite rapid. 

 They spring up naturally 

 whenever the annual fires 

 are kept from spreading over 

 our prairies and openings, 

 and soon form dense woods. 



The illustrations of the 

 oaks are one half the natural 



SCARLET OAK. 



37. Fagus ferruginea, of Alton. — A^merican Beech. 



Like many other species of plant, the American Beech tree 

 has been supposed to be only a variety of the European kind ; 

 but later botanists have decided that the two are distinct. Mich- 

 aux describes two varieties, and makes them different species — 

 the white and the red. The first is nearly all sap wood, which 

 is white ; the last nearly all heart-wood, which is red. But these 

 peculiarities are found to be owing to something in the soil or 

 exposure ; there being no sufficient botanical differences to ena- 

 ble us to distingaish the two kinds as separate species. 



In our State, the Beech is confined to certain districts along 

 the shores of Lake Michigan, where it is often found constituting 

 almost the entire forest. I am not informed in regard to the 

 occurrence of this tree in the northern part of the State. 



