48 THOREA U. 



remainder very firmly with their claws. Neverthe 

 less, it often drops to the ground before the bird has 

 done with it. I can confirm what William Bartrarn 

 wrote to Wilson, the ornithologist, that &quot; The jay is 

 one of the most useful agents in the economy of na 

 ture, for disseminating forest trees and other nucifer 

 ous and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. 

 Their chief employment during the autumnal season 

 is foraging to supply their winter stores. In perform 

 ing this necessary duty they drop abundance of seed 

 in their flight over fields, hedges, and by fences, where 

 they alight to deposit them in the post-holes, etc. It 

 is remarkable what numbers of young trees rise up in 

 fields and pastures after a wet winter and spring. 

 These birds alone are capable, in a few years time, 

 to replant all the cleared lands.&quot; 



I have noticed that squirrels also frequently drop 

 their nuts in the open land, which will still further 

 account for the oaks and walnuts which spring up in 

 pastures, for, depend on it, every new tree comes from 

 a seed. When I examine the little oaks, one or two 

 years old, in such places, I invariably find the empty 

 acorn from which they sprung. 



So far from the seed having lain dormant in the 

 soil since oaks grew there before, as many believe, it 

 is well known that it is difficult to preserve the vi 

 tality of acorns long enough to transport them to Eu 

 rope ; and it is recommended in London s Arboretum^ 

 as the safest course, to sprout them in pots on the 

 voyage. The same authority states that &quot; very few 

 acorns of any species will germinate after having been 

 kept a year,&quot; that beechmast &quot; only retains its vital 

 properties one year,&quot; and the black-walnut &quot;seldom 

 more than six months after it has ripened.&quot; I have 



