266 FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



year afterwards, he headed down one-half of the plants, and 

 UiQ other half he left to Nature. 



For his method of heading down, see FRUIT-TREES. 



During the first season, those which were headed down 

 made shoots six feet in length, and covered the tops of the 

 old stems, leaving only a slight cicatrix ; and produced new 

 tap-roots upwards of two feet long. The others, which 

 were not headed down, did not grow to one-fourth of this 

 length. He further says, that when the former were 

 eighteen feet high, the latter were only five. This case is 

 cited by him, as a striking instance of the superiority of 

 his method of heading down over the common method of 

 managing trees. 



His method of curing or restoring old, hollow, and dis- 

 eased trees, which are partly dead, is also generally appli- 

 cable to the oak 



For the method of doing this, ste also FRUIT-TREES. 



The Farmer, who finds his stock of good oak timber 

 growing more scarce, should turn his attention to the 

 means of replenishing his farm with this valuable timber. 

 When planted on little heights and declivities, he may find 

 the growth of oaks ornamental to his farm, as well as pro- 

 fitable, by raising its value; and it may afford him much 

 pleasure, in hi& more advanced years, to observe their in- 

 creased dimensions, while in his mind he rolls back the 

 wheels of time to that period when the oaks were but 

 acorns in his hand. 



The bark of the whiteoak is best for taning. The inner 

 bark of it, when reduced to a powder, and administered in 

 the manner of the Peruvian bark, answers nearly the same 

 purpose ; but the doses must be larger. 



The juice of the galls of the shruboak is excelent, for 

 making the best ink, and is also a component part in black 

 dyes. They are formed by an insect's depositing its eggs in 

 the tender rind of the twigs of the tree; and, through the 

 wound thus made, this black juice oozes, and forms a 

 tumor, sometimes as large as a walnut, in the heart of 

 which the young insect is to be found. 



The acorns for planting, for raising the oak, should be 

 gathered as soon as they fall in Autumn, and kept in moist 

 sand during the Winter, in a place where they will be free 

 from frost; and those only which have sprouted should be 

 planted the next Spring. The sprouts should not be suffer- 

 ed to dry r before the acorns are put in the ground. 



A strong moist soil is requisite for raising the commoa 



whiteoak, to perfection. Grounds for raising the best oaks, 



of any kind, should always be those where they grow most 



thriftily, in a state of nature, if such can be always ascer- 



:e& 



