LIST OF FOREST-TREES. 



113 



ever satisfactory this test may be for 

 this important object, it is but too 

 seldom employed, if we are to judge 

 by the few records of the ages of 

 valuable trees, not only of the oak, 

 but of all others of the first class of 

 timber that are to be found. Were 

 records of planting kept in the family 

 archives of those who plant ; contain- 

 ing the facts of the age of the plants, 

 when transplanted to their timber 

 sites, the nature and preparation of 

 the soil at the period of planting, and 

 the after culture until the trees at- 

 tained to a timber size, the benefit to 

 science and to practice would be great. 

 (See note, *p. 11.) 



The Turkey oak, Quercus ctrris, was 

 introduced into England in 1739. It 

 is a handsome growing tree, and is 

 perhaps the most valuable species 

 next to the British oak. It will thrive 

 on most kinds of soil ; but a strong 

 loam is that which it most affects. 

 The wood exhibits all the good pro- 

 perties of that of the common oak ; 

 but the period of its introduction into 

 England has not allowed of any suffi- 

 cient trial to determine its compara- 

 tive durability. It is highly deserving 

 of a place in every plantation of fo- 

 rest-trees, where the soil is adapted to 

 the growth of the oak, elm, and chest- 

 nut. The acorns are oblong, and the 

 cup mossy. The leaves are deciduous, 

 and readily distinguished from those of 

 the common oak by their ovate-oblong 

 shape and slightly fiat sinuate margins. 



Michaux informs us, that there are forty- 

 four species of oak found in America 

 between the 20th and 48th degree of 

 north latitude : of these he has de- 

 scribed and figured twenty- six spe- 

 cies*, which are all interesting for 

 their different habits of foliage and 

 growth ; for general utility, however, 

 there appears to be not one equal to 



* His arrangement is as follows : First, fructifi- 

 cation annual, with lobed leaves. 



White-oak quercus alia. 



European oak robur. 



European white oak. . ,r6bur pedunculdtn. . 



Mossy-cup white oak..olivcej'6rmis. 



Over-cup oak macrocdrpu. 



Post oak obtusiloba. 



Over-cup oak lyrdta. 



Second ; Leaves toothed. 



Swamp- white oak discolor vel Michauxii. 



Chestnut-white palustris. 



Hock-chestnut montana vel monticula, 



Yellow oak acumindta vel castunea. 



Small chestnut oak. . . .prinus velprinoides. 



Division 2d, Fructification biennial ; leaves 



our own native species, Quercus ro- 

 bur. The white oak before noted ap- 

 proximates nearer in valuable pro- 

 perties to the British oak than any 

 other. In favourable situations it 

 rises to seventy or eighty feet in height, 

 and six or seven feet in diameter. To 

 inquiries made to English, French, 

 and American shipwrights, this in- 

 telligent author learnt that the gene- 

 ral opinion agreed in the conclusion, 

 that European oak was tougher and 

 more durable from the superior close- 

 ness of its grain, but that the Ameri- 

 can species was more elastic, and re- 

 quired a shorter time, and only half 

 the weight to bend it ; and he judi- 

 ciously adds, that this advantage, 

 though important in ship-building, 

 does not compensate for the openness 

 of its pores. In America it is much 

 used in the construction of mills and 

 dams, where it is exposed to be al- 

 ternately wet and dry. The wooden 

 bridge nearly three thousand feet 

 long, that unites Boston and Cam- 

 bridge is supported by posts of white 

 oak, from sixteen to twenty feet in 

 length, which have replaced those of 

 white pine, on which it originally 

 stood. 



The American mossy-cup oak has the 

 lobe of the leaves so deeply indented 

 as to give them the appearance of 

 pinnate-leaves. The branches of the 

 first and secondary limbs have a pen- 

 dulous habit, which, with its generally 

 handsome top, claims for this spe- 

 cies a place in plantations. The qua- 

 lity of its timber has not been proved 

 in England. In America it attains 

 to sixty or seventy feet in height. 



The over-cup white oak is distinguished 

 for the largeness of the leaves. In 



mucronated, except the thirteenth species. 

 Section first leaves obtuse or entire : 



Live oak ; virens 



Cork oak suber. 



Willow-leaved phellos. 



Laurel imbricdna vel laurijvlia. 



Upland cinerea. 



Running pumUa. 



Section second leaves lobed : 



Bartram oak heterophylla. 



Water oak aquatica. 



Black oak niyra velfcrruginca. 



Bear oak Banistfri. 



Third section leaves multifid, or many cleft : 



Barren-scrub oak quercus Catesbcei. 



Spanish oak Jalcdta. 



Black oak tinctoria. 



Scarlet oak coccinea. 



Grey oak ambiyua. 



Pin oak palustris. 



Ked oak. . . , rtibra. 



I 2 



