WHITE OAK 237 



inches will not be too deep, but if moist and compact, an 

 inch may do. The number of acorns named is to insure a 

 tree in each place, as all of them may not prove fertile, nor 

 will all survive. It would be best to scatter the acorns when 

 dropping them, and the superfluous trees can be removed 

 when the best one has become firmly established. 



The distance apart that the seeds should be planted must 

 be determined from the character of the ground and the 

 location, and whether other trees are to be planted with 

 them. If alone, they may be put from five to six feet apart 

 each way, and when the time for thinning arrives some 

 may, and doubtless will, be large enough for fence posts ; 

 but if planted ten feet apart, some other species of trees 

 could be set between them to force the Oaks to seek light 

 and drop their lower branches and the nurse trees be re- 

 moved later. When the Oaks have attained a suitable height, 

 thinning should take place gradually, leaving at last only 

 as many as can be grown in a thrifty condition, which will 

 probably never exceed one hundred and twenty-five to the 

 acre more likely a smaller number. As Chestnut and 

 White Oak are largely associated in natural forests, the 

 former would be a good " nurse tree " to plant with the 

 latter, but the Chestnuts should not be planted until the 

 second or even third or fourth year after the acorns, for 

 the reason that the Chestnut grows much faster than the 

 Oak. When the Chestnuts are cut, they will throw up 

 sprouts and thus preserve the forest floor in good condition. 

 The great value of White Oak lumber will certainly justify 

 attempts to grow extensive forests of that tree, notwith- 

 standing its slow growth. Unless this is done, it will soon 

 be practically exterminated and the loss greatly felt. The 

 great importance of the tree is the justification offered for 

 this lengthy consideration of its characteristics, growth, 

 and cultivation. 



