206 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. II, 1832. 



Boston, Wednesday Evening, Jan. 11, 1832. 



BLACK OAK, YELLOW OAK, &c. 



We have received a long communication on tlie 

 above, and some other subjects, from our Ports- 

 mouth correspondent " A. R." which contains useful 

 information, blended with matter, which cannot be 

 interesting to our readers, and is therefore omilted. 

 Mr. A. R. accuses Mr. E. of inaccuracy, be- 

 cause the latter says " What is called the Yellow 

 Oak in this vicinity, is the common Black Oak." 

 What I call the Vellow Oak, is a species or variety, 

 that does not appear black in any case, but has the 

 same yellow of the Black Oak, when examined. 

 The Black Oak is peculiar to light, bushy, hilly, 

 rocky, poor, sandy soils. They are intermixed with 

 other species of oak, walnut, &c. Sometimes they 

 are among the Pitch Pine. They are very speedy 

 in their growth, when young, even in the poorest 

 soils. They seldom attain to a large size, neither 

 are they long lived. They have a fine bark, and 

 assume their hue at an early stage. Tlicy are the 

 only oak, which produce what is called the Oak 

 Apple, which is the most curious thing in nature. — 

 They are tolerably good timber, for many uses, 

 but not so durable as the White Oak. If cut and 

 used green, when in a vigorous state of growing, 

 they are the best fuel of any within my knowledge. 

 They burn free and bright, and give great heat. A 

 stick will outlast four of walnut of the same size. 

 Their acorns are from 4 to 4 the size of the White 

 Oak acorns. 



" The Yellow Oak is generally found on better 

 soils, having more frequently the white and red 

 oaks for their neig-hbours. They attain to a large 

 size, not unlike the red, are seldom found with so 

 large a trunk, but are quite as tall, and less branch- 

 ed. Their timber is similar to the black oak. Their 

 outward appearance in the same forest is so simila,- 

 to the red oak, that I have found it impossible, in 

 selecting them for timber, to distinguish them from 

 the red, only by bruising and cutting the bark, 

 when the inside is found yellow, but of not quite so 

 hio-h a tinge as the black oak. Their acorns are 

 about half the size of the black oak, more flat, are 

 covered more with the cup shell, out of which they 

 seldom fall. The latter described resemble the 

 Grey Oak of Maine, which are very frequent there, 

 and are much used in ship building. The bark of 

 the Black Oak, and that of the Yellow Oak, have 

 their similar worth for tanning and colouring. A. 

 R. then cautions against the use of the Swamp 

 Sumac, which he says is poisonous. 



As respects the supposed difference between 

 Black Oak and Yellow Oak, we will observe that 

 they are varieties of the same species, viz. the 

 Qiterciis tinctoria, [coloring oak) of Michaux. This 

 is one of the most important of our forest trees, as it 

 produces an article of commerce called Quercitron, 

 much used in Europe, in dying, staining, &,c. but 

 we believe not so well known, nor its merits so 

 highly appreciated in the U. States. In the 95th 

 year of George III. Dr Edward Bancroft obtained 

 an act of the British Parliament, giving him an ex- 



clusive right " of the use and application of certain 

 vegetables for dying" &c. In the specification of 

 Dr Bancroft's claim for his exclusive right, three 

 different sorts of vegetable substances are mention- 

 ed, viz: the barks of the Yellow Oak, alias Black 

 Oak, [Quercits tinrtoi-ia) the Walnut, (Juglans 

 alhaj, and the Red Mangrove, (Rizophora mangle). 

 In giving a description of the » ellow Oak, Dr. Ban- 

 croft says, " The first is a species of oak," growing 

 spontaneously on the continent of North America, 

 and particularly within the thirteen United States, 

 in some of which, particularly in the Massachusetts 

 Bay, it is commonly called Yellorv Oak, and in 

 otliers, particularly in Pennsylvania Bluck Oak, 

 being that species, which in the writings of the cele- 

 brated Carolus Linnicus is termed Qverctts tiigra, 

 (Black Oakj. The bark of this oak is the part most 

 useful in giving color ; it is very rough, and of a 

 dark brown or black color on the outside, and of a 

 light yellowish brown within ; and may be distin- 

 guished from the bark of all other oaks, with which 

 I am acquainted, by the following circumstance or 

 effects, viz. if boiled in water, its decoction becomes 

 yellow by the addition of alum ; or if, instead of 

 alum, a suitable quantity of green vitriol, or other 

 solution of iron, by some other mineral or vegeta- 

 ble acid be added, it produces a kind of olive, or 

 olive brown colour, instead of a black, which would 

 be produced by the decoction of, any other kind of 

 oak, known to me. There are several vaneties of 

 this species of oak, — all agree with it in giving a 

 yellow color by the help of alum, and I claim the 

 exclusive right of dying,&c. of all the oaks possess 

 ing that property, &c. 



The bark above mentioned was named by Dr 

 Bancroft Quercitron bark, from the latin words ijufr- 

 cus (oak) and citrina (yellow). It has become an 

 article of commerce, of great use in Great Britain, 

 and is we believe, as regularly placed on prices cur- 

 rent as flour or potash. 



Michaux's North American Sylva describes and 

 gives plates of 29 different species of oaks, found in 

 the U. S. and an additional catalogue of a number 

 more, which are not figured. He describes what 

 he calls the Yellow oak-, {(liiercus prinus acuminata) 

 but says ' the banks of the Delaware may be as- 

 sumed as the Northern climate of the Yellow Oak' 

 He says nothing of the different varieties of the 

 Black Oak, or coloring oak, but there are varieties 

 and it would be well if some man of science would 

 trace and describe them, and ascertain their rela- 

 tive value both for coloring and fuel. If A. R. does 

 not mistake, when he asserts that a stick of Black 

 Oak will outlast four of walnut, and burn free and 

 bright, this oak must deserve cultivation for fuel as 

 well as its other good properties. 



Michaux in describing the black alias Yellow Oak 

 says ' From the cellular integuments of the Black 

 Oak is obtained the quercitron, of which great use 

 is made in dying wool, silk, and paper hangings. 

 According to several authors who have written on 

 this subject, and among others Dr Bancroft, to 

 whom we are indebted for this discovery, one part 

 of quercitron yields as much coloring matter as 

 eight or ten parts of wood. Ths decoction is of a 



brownish yellow, which is rendered deeper by an 

 alkali, and lighter by acids. A solution of alum 

 causes a small portion of the coloring matter to fall 

 in a deep red precipitate of a bright hue. 



'To dye wool it is sufficient to boil the quercitron 

 with an equal weight of alum: in dipping the stuff", 

 the deepest shade is given first, and afterwards the 

 straw color: to animate the tint the stuff" may be 

 passed, in coming out of the dye, through water t 

 whitened with a little washed chalk. A brighter . 

 color hi obtained by means of solution of tin. Quer- 

 citron may be substituted for woad, in giving all the 

 shades of yellow to silk : the proportion is one part 

 by weight to twelve parts of silk. In the advertise- 

 ments of Philadelphia for February, 1808, this sub- 

 stance is rated at 40 dollars a ton, and from that 

 city chiefly it is exported to Europe.' 



American Silk.— Mr 1). M. Russell, of Plymouth, 

 N. H., has sent to the Farmer office a beautiful 

 specimen of sewing silk, manufactured at Plymouth, 

 N. H. by Mrs William Green. The latiUide of Ply- 

 mouth is fortythree degrees, fortyfive minutes, thir- 

 tyone seconds north. This proves that our climate 

 is not too cold, as some have supposed, for this 

 valuable article, which we hope will yet be a sta- 

 ple commodity in the Northern as well as in the 

 Southern States. 



BRIGHTON MARKET FOR THE YEAR 1831. 

 First quarter ending March 28. 

 5207 Hcef Cattle, estimated sales, 186,452 00 



3SI6 Stores, ' ' 7,920 00 



9IH0 Sliei-p, ' ' 22,900 00 



2lOii Swine, ' ' 8959 00 



$226,231 00 

 Second quarter, ending June 27. 

 2^ili Beff Cattle, estimated sales, 100,836 00 



■140 Slores ' ' 8,800 00 



5S04 .Sheep ' ' 11,603 00 



2f<70 Swine ' ' 12,227 50 



$133,471 50 



Thinl quarter, emling Sept. 26. 

 5610 Hcef Cattle, estijnated sales, 185,130 00 



4300 Stores • ' 61,900 00 



30229 Sheep, ' ' 67,879 38 



5767 Swine ' ' 18,742 75 



$332,652 13 

 Fourth quarter, ending Dec. 26. 



20304 Beef Cattle, estimated sales, 507,600 00 



10364 Stores, ' ' 126,368 00 



33460 Sheep ' ' 66,920 00 



16126 Swine ' ' 46,441 00 



$747,329 01) 



Beef Cattle, 

 Stores, 

 Sheep 

 Swine 



^ECAPlTUl-ATION. 



3.S922 980,018 00 



15400 204,988 00 



844.53 160,307 38 



26871 86,370 25 



Whole No. 160646 $1,440,693 63 



1830— Beef Cattle, 37767 

 Stores, 13(585 



Sheep, 132697 

 Swine, 19039 .^dv. and Patriot. 



To Correspondents. 



We are compelled to omit this week several able 

 communications, among which are Judge Elfl's valiia- 

 hle tabic of Pears— an article from Doct. Peck of Fox- 

 horough, on the late fatal epidemic among horses — fur- 

 ther remarks on ilitferent breeds of Live Stock — on the 

 Holly, as a plant for Hedges, &c. &c. 



