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DECIDUOUS TREES. 121 
wood is of good quality, often very tough. Another pe- 
culiarity of this tree is, that the stem tapers very rapidly 
from the base, more so than in any other species with 
which I am acquainted. It succeeds best in low, moist 
soils, and is common in New Jersey and westward. 
The Oaks are all easily grown from seed; all that is 
required is to gather the acorns so soon as ripe and plant 
them in good soil, covering only a half inch deep. They 
should be transplanted when one year old, as they will then 
produce a large, fleshy tap-root; but unless transplanted 
when young, they will throw out but few lateral roots, con- 
tinuing to penetrate the soil almost perpendicularly. I have 
seen tap-roots on comparatively young trees that were six 
to ten feet long. The most valuable species to be grown 
for timber are the Q. alba and Q. obtusiloba for high, dry 
soils, and the Q. Phellos, Q. imbricaria, and Q. palustris 
for low, wet soils. 
Rosrnta. (Locust.) 
. The common Locust has probably been more extensively 
planted for its timber than any other tree in this country. 
Many acres were formerly planted on Long Island and 
New Jersey, and the remnants of these plantations are 
still to be seen in these localities. The usual practice was, 
to scatter the seeds in the original forests, leaving them to 
take root as best they could; when they had grown to a 
few feet in height, the native trees were cut out, leaving 
the Locust. In a few years these seedling Locusts became 
large enough to be cut and sold to the ship-builders or 
used for fence-posts. The Locust of this section of the 
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