ON BRITISH OAKS. 93 
SoiL AND SITUATION. 
Oak will grow and come to perfection as a tree in almost any 
description of soil, provided it 1s not too wet, and has a depth of 
from 3 feet to 4 feet. But the best timber is produced on strong 
clay, resting on a subsoil of gravel or chalk. It will grow faster 
on lighter soils, but the timber is more lable to be shaky, and 
consequently not so good. Where the soil is not naturally 
suitable for the oak, it is a waste of money to attempt its 
cultivation. 
The situation of an oak plantation should be sheltered ; and 
when not naturally so, nurse trees, such as Scots fir, spruce, 
larch, or birch, should be introduced. I prefer the three last, as 
not so apt to overcrowd the oaks, but great judgment is required 
in this matter. Furze or whin has been recommended, and no 
doubt has some advantages, in that it is short-lived, and would 
decay when its shelter was no longer required ; but, on the whole, 
I prefer larch, or any fast-growing deciduous tree for sheltering 
the oak in its infancy. A belt of Scotch fir on the most exposed 
side may be advisable, there to remain until ripe. A practice has 
prevailed in the New Forest of Hampshire of planting the oaks 
with alternate rows of Scots fir, the rows running due north and 
south. This practice is evidently a failure, as the oaks are drawn 
up so spindly that they cannot support themselves. This is partly 
due to the fact of too many Scots firs being planted, and also to 
the want of timely thinning. The excuse for this last is the 
reluctance to cut down nice thriving plants before they are fit for 
some commercial purpose. 
Having selected a place on which to raise oak for timber, a 
question arises whether the acorns should be sown in the place 
where they are intended to remain, or whether they should be 
sown in a seed-bed, and afterwards transplanted. This question 
seems to be decided by the paper which Sir James Campbell, Bart., 
submitted—as the result of experiments in the Forest of Dean 
—to the International Forestry Exhibition at Edinburgh in 1884. 
In analysing this paper, I will first take certain periods ; and as 
the year 1822 saw four out of the six non-transplanted trees cut 
down, leaving but two, I will only deal with them, and taking 
the period of 38 years, that is, from 1784 to 1822, the increase 
was for— 
