174: VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



Manchester. A grove occurs at West Rutland and there are native trees 

 upon Rock Point near Burlington. This is the most northern station in 

 New England. The chestnut will probably grow in all parts of the state 

 and may well be cultivated both for its delicious nuts and for its beauty 

 as a shade tree. 



The leaves are shiny and graceful, from six to eight inches long. When 

 they are nearly grown, long, stiff catkins of fragrant, greenish-yellow flow- 

 ers appear. These bear the pollen, the fruit-bearing flowers being smaller, 

 enclosed in bur-like scales. The nuts, two or three in a bur, ripen in 

 October. 



THE OAKS 



The oaks, abundant throughout the northern hemisphere, are remark- 

 able for their massive trunks, for their thick, rugged bark and large, strong 

 roots. They are distinguished from all other trees by their cupped fruit, 

 but many who have seen these fruits have not noticed the small, scaly 

 masses of flowers which produce them. The pollen-bearing flowers are 

 found on the same tree, but are arranged in long, slender catkins consisting 

 of a cluster of from three to twelve stamens. Some of the oaks, including 

 the red and black, do not mature their fruit until the second year. 



Oak timber is of great commercial value, being used for a variety of 

 purposes. For strength, hardness, toughness and durability combined, it 

 is unsurpassed. 



The oak genus is a large one. Ten species are known to occur in Ver- 

 mont, and these sometimes hybridize, producing intermediate forms. The 

 bear oak or scrub oak, is a straggling shrub, occurring sparingly in south- 

 eastern Vermont. The other nine species are trees. Of these four are rare 

 or local in their occurrence, as follows : 



The dwarf chinquapin oak, Q. jmnoides, dry hillsides, Pownal (Rob- 

 bins, Eggleston), Weybridge (Brainerd), 



Chinquapin oak, Q. acuminata, Gardiner's Island, Lake Champlain, 

 (Pringle). 



Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa, in the Champlain valley, more common in 

 Addison county than elsewhere. 



Scarlet oak, Q. coccinea, Pownal (Eggleston). 



The other five are of more common occurrence ; the following key will 

 aid in distinguishing them. 



Lobes of leaves obtuse, not bristle-pointed, fruit annual. 



Leaves usually deeply-lobed ( %- or %-vra.y to midrib) White Oak 



• Reaves scalloped or shallow-lobed (less than J^-way to midrib), stalk of acorn much 

 longer than leaf-stalk Swamp White Oak 



Leaves undulate-toothed (crenate), stalk of acorn shorter thanleaf.stalk. .Chestnut Oak 

 Lobes of leaves acute, bristle-pointed, fruit biennial. 



Acorn large, cup yi-i iuch broad, shallow, saucer-shaped Red Oak 



Acorn small, cup %-% inch brgad, hemispherical gr top-shaped Yellow Oak 



