THE OAK. 13 



This characteristic, which renders the Oak so great a 

 favourite with the painter, makes it no less serviceable to 

 the shipbuilder, who selects the crooked limbs, and applies 

 them, under the designation of knee-timber, to the purpose 

 of supporting the decks of ships. Trees which grow at a 

 considerable distance from each other are the most produc- 

 tive of this kind of timber ; for, thus situated, the branches 

 have ample room to follow the direction of the straggling 

 roots, to which they naturally incline. In some parts of 

 France, it is said, young trees are forced to assume this 

 curved mode of growth by the suspension of weights to 

 their heads ; and in this country also, experiments have 

 been tried in order to produce similar results ; but in 

 most cases with very doubtful success. This custom was 

 known to Virgil : 



" Continue in sylvis magna vi flexa domatur 

 In burim, et curvi fonnam accipit ulmus aratri. " 



Georg. I. 



The foliage of the Oak is as characteristic as any other 

 feature of the tree, whether we regard the sinuated form 

 of each individual leaf, or the aggregate tufts. The 

 principal difference between the leaves of Quercus pedan- 

 culata (or Quercus Robur] and Quercus sessiliflora is, that 

 in the former they have scarcely any stems, whereas the 

 leaves of the latter are decidedly stalked, and the lobes on 

 each side are more nearly opposite. Both species burst 

 their leaf and flower-buds about the same time, in April 

 or May Quercus sessiliflora being, however, generally 

 somewhat later. At this time their pale-green tint, deli- 

 cately shaded with crimson, seems scarcely to accord with 

 the bulky and more robust character of the rest of the 

 tree ; but, as the season advances, they assume a full, 

 florid green, which they retain till very late in the year. 

 At the approach of winter they put on a rich russet-brown 

 or red hue, and light up many a landscape, which without 

 them would be cold and cheerless. Young trees do not 



