THE OAK. 29 



high, makes excellent hoops, which Evelyn says we ought 

 to substitute for those of Hazel and Ash, as they are six 

 times more durable : it also makes the very best walking- 

 sticks, and very good handles to carters' whips. Of the roots, 

 Evelyn says, were formerly made hafts to daggers, handles 

 to knives, tobacco-boxes, mathematical instruments, tablets 

 for artists to paint on instead of canvas, and elegant cam- 

 leted joiner's work. Oak wood, every one knows, is pre- 

 ferred before all others for ship-building, in the temperate 

 regions of both hemispheres. From its toughness, it does 

 not splinter when it is struck by a cannon-ball, and the 

 hole made by a ball is consequently easy to plug. Through- 

 out Europe, and more especially in Britain, Oak timber 

 was used for every purpose, both of naval and civil archi- 

 tecture, till the wood of the Pine and Fir tribe came to 

 be generally imported from the Baltic and North America, 

 about the beginning of the last century. Since that 

 period, the use of Oak timber has given way to that of 

 Pine and Fir in house-building ; but where not superseded 

 by iron, it maintains its superiority in the construction of 

 ships, and various kinds of machines, and even in house- 

 building where great durability is required. Oak wood is 

 also still employed in joinery and cabinet-making. 



Much difference of opinion exists as to which species of 

 British Oak produces the best timber. Early writers on 

 the subject claim the superiority for Quercus Robur, or the 

 " old English Oak," as they call it, on the ground that it 

 is of moi-e rapid growth, has a cleaner stem and fewer 

 knots, is more durable, and contains a larger proportion of 

 heart-wood than the other species, Quercus sessiliflora, 

 or Durmast Oak. -More recent authors, however, maintain 

 that the true "old English Oak" is Quercus sessitijlora, 

 and account for the fact that it is now less common than 

 the other on the supposition that our forefathers were well 

 aware of the superiority of the former species, and applied 

 it so extensively to all works requiring durability, that it 

 has long become comparatively scarce. But a few years 



