\^nie Editor requests the assistance of Readers in anszvering Queries, so 

 that the it sef illness of this Department may be maintained.'] 



Oak-galls. — The o^l^-gsM^j {Cynips querd) is herbivorous, and belongs 

 to the order Hymenoptera. The female is armed with a stiug or ovipo- 

 sitor, with which she makes a punctm-e in a leaf or twig, and at the same 

 time deposits an Qgg therein, around which the well-known excrescence, 

 the oak-gall, is formed, furnishing a nidus for the grub or larva when 

 hatched. When the insect arrives at the matured state it eats its way out 

 of the gall, and escapes a full-grown fly. — D. S. S. 



Barking Irons are extremely simple to make, and any forester of 

 ordinary aptitude, with the assistance of a common country smith, can 

 make his own. Get a bar of iron 1^ in. x i in. ; cut it into 14 in. length, 

 turn 4 in. at one end for a socket for handle, and slightly curve in the 

 blade. Sharpen the edge, but it requires no steel. A common mortising- 

 chisel slightly curved will serve as a perfect model. — D. S. 8. 



[The query of " D. M." is (see page 589) — Where can barking irons be 

 got ready made ? — Ed.] 



Books. — Can you recommend a complete and cJieap work in Enghsh on 

 the art of forestry and the duties of a forester ? — A Young Forester, 

 anxious to learn. 



[We wish we could ! Eead the Journal regularly, and save up your 

 spare cash till you can buy Brown's "Forester" Blackwood and Sons, 

 Edinburgh. Nothing better or cheaper in English. — Ed.] 



Privet. — I have a plantation which has got so completely overrun with 

 privet as to be perfectly impenetrable to men, or even dogs ; so that it is a 

 downright nuisauce, and a great hindrance to the enjoyment of a day's 

 shooting. Can any of your readers tell of an expeditious and not too ex- 

 pensive way to get rid of the privet ? — "W. C. L. C, Naseby Hall, Lin- 

 colnshire. 



Cover for Wild Ducks. — Being required to plant a low flat island of 

 about 1| acres and the shores of a pool or lake about 20 acres in extent 

 with cover for wild ducks breeding in, what would you advise me to plant ? 

 The situation is rather exposed, and the soil thin and poor. None but the 

 hardiest plants, I am afraid, will exist. A reply from you or some of 

 your correspondents will greatly oblige — G. P., Wicklow. 



