294 



OAK 



OAK 



the shrub oak as plentifully as any, 

 these trees are of some advantage 

 in feeding swine and poultry. They 

 are fondest of the acorns that grow 

 on the white oak, as the other kinds 

 have a bitter taste. 



The bark is of great use in tanning 

 hides, and a good ingredient in dies. 



The oak produces a fungous ball, 

 or apple, of a loose, soft contex- 

 ture, which soon dries and falls off, 

 and is of no use. 



But besides, it has little round 

 hard kind of excrescences, called 

 galls, which are of great use in dy- 

 ing and making the best writing 

 ink. Though they grow as large 

 as nutmegs in other countries,those 

 which I have found in this, have 

 been much smaller. Perhaps trees 

 must stand single many years, be- 

 fore they will be apt to produce 

 galls of a large size. 1 have not 

 found them but upon the white oak, 

 and those not larger than peas. 



I beg leave here to give the read- 

 er the history of galls, from the 

 Dictionary of Arts. " An insect 

 of the fly kind is instructed by na- 

 ture to take care of the safety of 

 her young,by lodging her eggs in a 

 Mroody substance, where they will 

 be defended from all injuries. She, 

 for this purpose, wounds the bran- 

 ches of a tree; and the lacerated 

 vessels, discharging their contents, 

 soon orm tumours about the holes 

 thus made. The hole in each of 

 the tumours, through which the fly 

 has made its way, may for the most 

 part be found ; and when it is not, 

 the maggot inhabitant, or its re- 

 mains, are sure to be found within, 

 on breaking the gall. However, 

 it is to be observed, that in those 



galls which contain several cells, 

 there may be insects found in some 

 of them, though there be a hole by 

 which the inhabitant of another cell 

 has escaped." 



It is to be wished, that persons in 

 the oldest parts of the country, when 

 an oak is felled, would search for 

 galls. If they are produced here 

 in plenty, it will not be right to per- 

 sist in sending our money for them 

 to foreign countries. 



As trees, both for timber and fu- 

 el, are become scarce in some parts 

 of the country, it is high time to 

 begin to make plantations of trees 

 for these purposes. And I know of 

 no kind that will answer, all things 

 considered, better than the oak. 

 The trees are so hardy as never to 

 be damaged by the severe coldnes& 

 of our winters : Neither have they 

 been known to suffer much by any 

 kind of insects. The red and grey 

 kinds are very rapid in their growth, 

 and will soon repay the cost and 

 trouble of rearing them : And the 

 white is of so essential importance 

 for timber, that a scarcity of it is to 

 be dreaded. 



Some of our pasture lands,which 

 are high and quite bare, would be 

 much improved, if every hundred 

 feet square were shaded by a lofty 

 oak : besides gaining a beautiful 

 appearance, especially if they were 

 placed in regular order. Barren 

 heights, in some pastures, are in 

 great want of trees to shade them. 

 Copses, or clumps, in such places, 

 would have excellent effects. 

 There would be more grass, the 

 appearance would be beautiful, and 

 the profit considerable. But the 

 question is, in what manner shall 



