1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



175 



From the Aiiioiicau Almanac, for 1838. 

 AGE AND SIZK or TRKES. 



There is a irreat (lifTerencc. in the age that may 

 be attained Ity liiU'erent kinds of trees. Some 

 contirmc to Hoiirish througli a long series of ages; 

 nor can any defmiie time be assigned to them as 

 the natural period of their existence. There are 

 individual trees whose age, as computed by some 

 naturalists, would carry back tiie commencement 

 of their existence to a period anterior to the de- 

 luge; and though we have no very satisfactory 

 evidence that there are any trees now existing of 

 eo great an age; yet there is no physical impossi- 

 bility that such may be the fact. 



The age of many kinds of trees may be ascer- 

 tained, with some degree of accuracy, by felling 

 them and counting the number of the concentric 

 circles or rings of their stem or trunk. The age 

 of trees is also estimated, while they are standing, 

 by their size, appearance, and a knowledge of 

 the laws by which their growth is regulated; and 

 there are some old and celebrated trees, the age 

 of which is known, with some degree of accuracy, 

 by historical documents. There are, however, 

 but very few of the most remarkable veterans of 

 the forest or the field, of which the ages can be 

 ascertained with any precision. 



We can notice briefly only a few of the most re- 

 markable trees. For further information, we 

 would refer to the writings of Michaux and De 

 Candolle, the volume on Timber Trees, in "The 

 Library of Entertaining Knowledge, " " The 

 Penny Cyclopaedia, " and " Gentleman's Maga- 

 zine," for June 1S36. The facts in this paper 

 have been derived from these sources and from 

 other works to which reference is made. 



1. " The oaks are among the patriarchs of Eu- 

 rope." In America there are no less than 29 va- 

 rieties of the oak enumerated by Michaux. The 

 white oak of the American forest is a much taller 

 tree than the British oak; though its timber is 

 not so hard nor eo durable. "It is," says Mi- 

 chaux, "70 or 80 feet high, and 6 or 7 feet in 

 diameter; but its proportions vary with the soil 

 and climate." 



The Wallace oak, at Ellerslie, in Scotland, 3 

 miles from Paisley, was a remarkable ob|ect at the 

 beginning of the 14th century, and must be at least 

 700 years old. Its branches are said to have co- 

 vered a Scotch acre of ground. Many cases of 

 oaks of extreme old age are recorded, some of 

 which have been estimated at 1,500 or 1,600 

 years. The largest oak known in England, was 

 ■called Damory's, in Dorsetshire, and was 68 feet 

 in circumference. It was destroyed in 1755. The 

 ■largest oaks now growing in England, are two 

 near Cranborne Lodge, Windsor; one 38, the 

 other 36 feet round. 



There has recently been published in the news- 

 papers a notice of an oak at Ashton, England, 

 said to be the finest in the country, which had 

 been lately sold for 60 guineas, and was expected 

 to be cut down when Uie barking season for the 

 year (1837) should arrive. The circumference 

 of its trunk, 6 feet above the ground, is stated at 

 20 feet; the length 72; the circumference at this 

 height being 2 feet. About 30 years since it was 

 sold for £100; but a chancery suit then arose, 

 which saved it lioin the axe. 



In Samagitia, Poland, 30 miles from Kovvno, 

 there was a famous oak, which was cut down in 

 1SI2. It was 3SJ, French loot in circumference, 

 and 14 in diameU'r. " When sawed through, 

 its ao-e was clearly discprnil)le, and found to be 

 almost 600 years."— yy/A. Cnio. /hi%. 1831. 



Mr. Welles, in a communication in "The New 

 England Farmer," states that in a lot in Dor- 

 chester, [Mass.,] given by Governor Stoughton, 

 for the benefit of college education to Dorchester 

 scholars, he measured several oaks which were 

 from 18 to 20 feet in circumference; and in one 

 of them he counted 200 rings, indicating as many 

 years. 



The writer of an article on ''American Forest 

 Trees," in " The North American Review," for 

 April, 1837, says : — " The largest oak, and indeed 

 the largest tree which we have seen in this coun- 

 try, is a white oak, on the estate of James Wads- 

 worth, Esq., of Genesee, N. Y. The tree is 

 from 24 to 27 feet in circumference at the smallest 

 part of the trunk. Its age cannot be less than 

 500 years, and it must, therefore, have been a ma- 

 jestic tree at the time when Columbus discovered 

 the western world. It appears to be still in a 

 healthy and vigorous condition, and bears in its 

 exterior no marks whatever of decay. It is by 

 no means improbable that this tree exceeds in 

 size many both in Europe and elseAvhere, which 

 are recorded as of greater diameter. For, in the 

 measurement of large trees, it is of great impor- 

 tance to ascertain at what part of the trunk the 

 measurement was taken. Every one must have 

 remarked the diti'erence between the bulk of such 

 trees at the surface of the ground, and at a few 

 fieet above." 



2. The ye.w attains a great age. The famous 

 xinkerwyke yew, near Staines, in England, is older 

 than the meeting of the English barons at Run- 

 nymede, when they compelled King John to 

 grant Magna Charta. It is 9;^ feet in diameter. 

 The yews at Fountain's Abbey, in Yorkshire, 

 are estimated at more than 1,200 years old ; and 

 some at Fotheringay, in Scotland, have been 

 computed at 2,500 or 2,600 years. One at For- 

 tingal, in Perthshire, is said to be 56-^ in circum- 

 ference; one at Brabourn in Kent, nearly 20 feet 

 in diameter; and one at Hedsor, in Bucks, 27 feet 

 in diameter. 



3. The lime is said to acquire a larger diameter, 

 in a given time, than any other European tree. 

 There is one at Friburg, in Switzerland, which 

 was planted in 1476, on the occasion of die battle of 

 Morat; and it now iias a diameter of 13 feet and 

 9 inches. 



A lime at Trons, in the Grisons, which was a 

 celebrated plant in 1424, existed in 1798, when it 

 measured 51 feet in circumlerence. Its age is 

 computed by De Candolle at 583 years. 



4. The elm, both of Europe and America, is a 

 large tree, and has a rapid growth; but the Ame- 

 rican elm has a more majestic appearance than 

 that of Europe. The former is represented by 

 Michaux as much inferior to the latter for useful 

 purposes; yet he characterizes the American elm 

 as " the most magnificent vegetable of the tem- 

 perate zone." One which grew at Morges, in 

 Pays de Vaud, is mentioned by De Candolle, 

 which he estimated at 335 years old; and its trunk 

 was 17 feet 7 inches in diameter — (the foot of 

 Pays de Vaud.) Mr. Slrutt mentions an elm of 



