OAK 



561 



Fig. 2. Sessile-fruited Oak (Qurrcut 

 robur tatiliflora) Branch in Fruit. 



affected by the soil and other circumstances in 

 which the trees grow, that it is not improbable that 

 the advocates on either side may have unwittingly 

 confounded the wood of one variety with that of 

 the other. The strength and durability of the 

 timber of either kind is as unquestionable as is 

 the extreme longevity of the trees. The timber of 

 no other European tree combines in itself the 

 essential elements of strength and durability, 

 hardness and elasticity, in the same degree as the 

 oak. Longevity is a characteristic of all species of 



oak, but the 

 British oak is 

 celebrated 

 I above all others 

 ' for the great 

 age to which 

 it attains. In 

 many districts 

 of England, and 

 in a few also of 

 Scotland, there 

 exist huge ven- 

 erable living re- 

 mains of giant 

 oaks, whose age 

 cannot be com- 

 puted with ac- 

 curacy, but 

 which, when 

 compared with 

 younger trees 

 authentically 

 known to be 

 300 or 400 years 

 old, may, with- 

 out improbabil- 

 ity, be reckoned to have stood for more than 1000 

 years. Many of these ancient trees are historical 

 landmarks, being associated with the events and 

 tln> names of persons of the remote past. Legend- 

 ary though some of these associations may appear 

 t<> ! \vlicn applied to such as the ' King Oak,' in 

 Windsor Forest, which is said to have afforded 

 shade and shelter to William the Conqueror, it is 

 far from improbable that the tree may have been 

 of considerable age at the time of the Conquest. 

 The circumference of the trunk of this tree in 1864, 

 at 3 feet from the ground, was 2ti feet. But there 

 are many larger living oaks in other part* of the 

 country. The Cowthorpe Oak. for instance, in the 

 village of that name, 6 miles SK. of KnareslK>rough, 

 measured, at 3 feet from the ground, is feet in cir- 

 cumference. This tree is simply a wreck of former 

 grandeur, yet lives and putx forth leaves annually. 

 Taking the less favourable character of the climate 

 of the West Riding of Yorkshire, when compared 

 with that of Windsor Forest, into account along 

 with the immensely greater luilk of the Cowthorpe 

 Oak than the King Oak, it is not extravagant to 

 assume that the former may be twice the age of 

 the latter. The oak from remotest antiquity has 

 had a celebrity among trees ; it has been regarded 

 as the ' Monarch of the Forest.' It was held sacred 

 by the Greeks anil Romans and by the ancient 

 Ganls and Britons. The history of the use of the 

 timber of the oak as material for shipbuilding 

 may lie said to date from the time of King Alfred 

 (gee NAVY). The timlier is also employed in archi- 

 tecture, cabinet-making, carving, mill-work, and 

 coopering ; and the sawdust was formerly employed 

 in the dyeing of fnstian. 



The bark is of great value as furnishing tan for 

 the use of the tanner. It yields a bitter extract 

 named Qiiercinr, which is employed in medicine as 

 a tonic and astringent. Colouring matter is also 

 obtained from it, which is used in dyeing wool. The 

 s are excellent food for swine; and their im- 

 348 



portance for this purpose is clearly shown by the 

 pannage laws enactea by Ine, king of Wessex, in 

 the 7th century, for the regulation of rearing and 

 fattening hogs, then, and for centuries afterwards, 

 perhaps the most important agricultural pursuit 

 of the people. Although the fruit of the British 

 oak is neither so palatable nor so easily digested 

 as to recommend itself for human food, that of 

 many other oaks is sweet, wholesome, and nutri- 

 tious. In Turkey the acorns of several kinds, 

 after being buried in the ground for some time to 

 deprive them of their bitter principle, are dried, 

 washed, and ground to powder along with sugar 

 and aromatics. The compound thus prepared is 

 called palamonte, and a food is made from it 

 named racahunt, which is much esteemed by 

 the ladies of the seraglios for maintaining their 

 plumpness and good condition. The Barbary Oak 

 (Q. ballota), the Evergreen Oak (Q. Ilex), the 

 Italian Oak ( Q. sEsculus) are European and African 

 species, the fruit of which, especially that of the 

 tirst named, is sweet and nut-like in flavour and 

 wholesome to eat. The Dwarf Chestnut Oak ( Q. 

 ji/'iHoides), a North American species, and several 

 others of that country also produce edible acorns. 

 Among ether oaks remarkable for the utility of 

 their products are the Cork Oak (Q. suber ; see 

 CORK); the Valonia Oak (Q. tzgilops), native of 

 the Levant, and cups of which are said to contain 

 more tannin per given bulk of substance than any 

 other vegetable ; the Black or Quercitron Oak 

 (Q. tinctoria), an abundant native of the United 

 States, the bark of which yields the Quercitron dye 

 of commerce ; the Gall Oak ( Q. iiifectoria ), a native 

 of Asia Minor, furnishing the gall-nuts of com- 

 merce (see GALLS) ; the Kernies Oak (Q. cocci/era ), 

 a native of the south of Europe, the Levant, and 

 the north of Africa, which supplies the kermes or 

 scarlet grain of commerce (see DYEING, Vol. IV. 

 p. 139); and the Manna Oak (Q. wannifera), a 

 native of Kurdistan, which secretes on its leaves in 

 warm weather a sweet mucilaginous substance, 

 that is made into highly esteemed sweetmeats. 

 The timlKM- of most of the American oaks is valu- 

 able. The following are the most esteemed as 

 timl>er-trees : the White Oak or Quebec Oak ( Q. 

 alba), spread from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, 

 regarded as only inferior in quality to British oak ; 

 the Over-cup Oak ( Q. lymta ), native of the 

 southern states, occupying situations liable to in- 

 undation ; the Chestnut-leaved White Oak (Q. 

 iirimm), also a native of the southern states; the 

 Live Oak (Q. virens), extending from the Gulf of 

 Mexico as far north as Virginia, regarded as the 

 most valuable of American oaks for shipbuilding; 

 the Red Oak (Q. rubru), pretty generally distrib- 

 uted in the United States and in Canada, fur- 

 nishing the Red Oak Stares so much in demand 

 in the West Indies. Of the Turkey Oak (Q. 

 cerris) there are several interesting varieties, as 

 the Fiilham Oak ( Q. c. Fulhamensis), which is 

 semi-evergreen although the parent is strictly decid- 

 uous. The Austrian (Ink ( Q. Aitstriftca), the Ever- 

 green or Holm Oak already named, and a number 

 of the American species already noticed tire much 

 appreciated ornamental trees in Britain. Green 

 oak is a condition of oak-wood caused by its being 

 impregnated with the spawn of Peziza cernginosa, 

 which communicates a lieautifnl tint of green, and 

 of which the turners and cabinet-makers of Tun- 

 bridge Wells avail themselves for inlaying, bead- 

 making, &c. The Common Oak and most others 

 cultivated in Britain delight in deep moist loamy 

 soil, in which, however, there should be no stag- 

 nant water. Great depth is of more consequence 

 than superior quality of soil. Plantations of oak 

 are slow in coming to marketable value, except in 

 the shape of copsewood, for which the oak is one 



