176 FOREST TUBES. 



" Every tree well fro his fellow grew. 



" With l:)ranches brode — laden with levis new 



" That sprengen onto agen the son-shene ; 



" Some very rede, and some a gladsome greene. "' 



— E/wn ChaticePs poem of " The Flower and the Lea)." 



The regular distances with which the hardwood trees, such as 

 Beech, Maple and Basswood, grow in the forest from each other, has 

 often been a matter of speculation ; from eight to ten feet appears to be 

 the usual distance where the trees have attained to any size. You rarely 

 see the hardwood trees growing in dense thickets ; in the case of the 

 scrub Oaks, and small scrub Pines, they often do grow in dense masses, 

 but in such case they never attain to any size and merely form an 

 underbrush. Among our native Oaks, 



Black. Oak. — Quercus cocci?iea, (Wang.) var. tinctoria (Gray.) 



Is one of the most useful and valuable of our native forest trees. In 

 iieight it is found from 100 to 130 feet, and from 4 to 6 feet in diameter. 

 A grand and lofty tree is the Black Oak. The bark, when young, is of 

 a dark green colour and perfectly smooth, but as the tree increases in 

 size and age it becomes deeply divided into large, flatish, oblong figures, 

 and in old trees the bark is deeply channelled and very thick and dark 

 coloured. The inner bark is the quercitron., of the dyers, and is also used 

 in tanning. From the dark colour of the bark and deep holly-green of the 

 foliage, the common name of Black Oak has been given to this species. 

 The wood has a handsome but somewhat coarse grain, and becomes of a 

 deep tint when long exposed to the air and when in household use. 

 The leaves of the Black Oak are of a splendid shining dark green, 

 deeply lobed, and sharply pointed. The acorn globular, or nearly so, 

 harsh and bitter, the cup covering about half the acorn, is rough and 

 scaly. 



The head of this noble tree is more compact and bushy than the 

 AVhite Oak, the limbs not so large nor widely spreading from the trunk. 

 This fine species grows to great size on open loamy soil. It is not so 

 picturesques in form as the type of the species, the 



ScARLE'i' 0.\vi.— Quercus coccinea, (Wang.) 



'J'his is an exceedingly beautiful and ornamental tree. The foliage 

 is of a rich dark glossy green, which turns to a brilliant scarlet in the Fall 

 when touched by the frost. The lobes are deeply cut, and divergent 

 from five to seven in number, smooth and shining. When growing in 

 open spaces, the tree spreads and obtains a fine and handsonie form. 



