CHAP. CV. CORYLA^CE/E. QUE'rCUS. 1809 



and Forests, that the plan was merely a scheme of Mi'. Billington's, carried 

 into execution on a limited scale, in the way of experiment. 



Matthew says, " The easiest way to procure good oak knees is to look out 

 in hedgerow and open forest for plants which divide into two or four leaders, 

 from 5ft. to 10 ft. above ground; and, should the leaders not diverge suf- 

 ficiently, to train them as horizontally^ as possible for several feet, by rods 

 stretching across the top, or by fixing them down by stakes." ((>« Naval 

 Timber, IXc, p. 26.) 



That timber trees should be trained according to the kind of timber which 

 it is desirable that they ought to produce, is as correct, as a general principle, 

 as that the different kinds of fruit trees ought to be trained in a manner the 

 most suitable for producing their respective kinds of fruit; but the subject of 

 training forest trees is as yet in its infancy, and the circumstance that iron and 

 other metals can be substituted for crooked pieces, as Mr. Snodgrass, Sir 

 Robert Seppings, and others have shown, is at present rather against the pro- 

 gress of this department of the forester's art. 



T/ie Age at ivhich Oak Timber ought to be felled, with a View to Profit, 

 must depend on the soil and climate in which the tree is grown, as well as on 

 other circumstances. Whenever the tree has arrived at that period of its 

 growth, that the annual increase does not amount in value to the marketable 

 interest of the money which, at the time, the tree would produce if cut 

 down, then it would appear more profitable to cut it down than to let it stand. 

 Perhaps it would not be difficult to construct a table, to show the proportion 

 between the annual increase of the trunk at a certain distance from the ground, 

 and the annual amount of timber added to the tree ; and, the price of timber 

 and bark being known, a calculation might thus readily be made of the total 

 value of the tree, and the total value of the annual increase. We are not 

 aware, however, that any such table has been calculated ; but the idea of it 

 may be useful to proprietors of trees, with a view to felling them. A writer in 

 the Gardener''s Alagazine states that Mr. Larkin, an eminent purveyor of 

 timber for ship-building, stated, when examined before the East India Shipping 

 Committee, that, in situations the most favourable for ship timber (the Weald 

 of Kent, for example), the most profitable time to cut oak was at 90 years 

 old; as, though the largest scantlings were produced at 130 years' growth, the 

 increase in the 40 additional years did not pay 2 per cent. (Gard. Mag., 

 vol. xi. p. 690.) In Lord Melville's Letter to Spencer Perceval, Esq., when the 

 latter was prime minister, he says that, " for naval purposes, oak trees require 

 to be from 80 to 150 years of age, according to the quality of the soil in which 

 they are grown." {Letter, &c., p. 3.) The Rev.W.T. Bree observes that, as the 

 oak, like all other trees, varies exceedingly in its growth, according to soil and 

 situation, &c., no one fixed period can be given for cutting it down, applicable 

 to all, or even to the generality of cases. A practised eye, he says, will be able 

 readily to decide when a tree is ripe for the axe. " There will no longer be any 

 vigorous shoots in the extremities of the branches ; but, instead of this, a curling 

 or crinkling of the spray, with scarcely any perceptible growth : dead branches 

 or small ones will occasionally be seen towards the top ; and, above all, the 

 bark will cease to expand, and, of course, will no longer exhibit those fight 

 red or yellow perpendicular streaks in its crevices, which are a certain 

 proof of its expansion, and of the consequent growth of the wood beneath." 

 As to the question at what age oaks should be cut down, so as to make the 

 best return in point of profit, this will depend mainly on the demand for oak 

 timber of this or that particular size and quality in each neighbourhood. 

 {Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 550.) 



Felling the Oak for Timber. On account of the great value of oak bark, the 

 operation of felling is generally performed in spring, when the sap is up, in 

 order to admit of the bark being readily separated from the wood. It is 

 commonly alleged, that felling, at this season, must be highly injurious to the 

 timber ; but, when it is considered that the sap ascends only in the soft, or out- 

 side, wood, and that it may be evaporated from it by sufficient exposure to the 



6 i; 2 



