104 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



growth, attaining a height of seventy or eighty feet, and ele- 

 gant in foliage and outline. The Lucombe and Fulham 

 oaks grow from one to five feet in a season ; the trees assume 

 a beautiful pyramidal shape, and as they retain their fine 

 glossy leaves till May, they would form a fine contrast to other 

 deciduous trees. 



We might here enumerate a great number of other fine 

 foreign oaks ; among which, the most interesting are the Holly 

 or Holm oak, ( Qjiercus Ilex) ; and the Cork oak, ( Q. Subei^), of 

 the south of France, which produces the cork of commerce ; 

 the Kermes oak, ( Q. coccifei'a), from which a scarlet dye is 

 obtained ; and the Italian Esculent oak, ( Q. Esculus), with 

 sweet nutritious acorns. Those, however, who wish to in- 

 vestigate them, will pursue this subject farther in European 

 works ; while that splendid treatise on our forest trees, the 

 North American Sylva of Michaux, will be found to give full 

 and accurate descriptions of all our numerous indigenous va- 

 rieties, of which many are peculiar to the southern states. 



The oak flourishes best on a strong loamy soil, rather 

 moist than dry. Here at least the growth is most rapid, al- 

 though, for timber, the wood is generally not so sound on a 

 moist soil as a dry one, and the tree goes to decay more 

 rapidly. Among the American kinds, however, some may 

 be found adapted to every soil and situation, though those 

 species which grow on upland soils, in stony, clayey, or 

 loamy bottoms, attain the greatest size and longevity. When 

 immense trees are desired, the oak should either be trans- 

 planted very young, or, which is preferable, raised from the 

 acorn sown where it is finally to remain. This is necessary 

 on account of the very large taj) roots of this genus of trees, 

 which are either entirely destroyed or greatly injured by 

 removal. 



The Elm. XJlmus. 



Nat. Ord. UlmaceEe. Lin. Syst, Pentandria, Digynia. 



We have ascribed to the oak the character of pre-eminent 

 dignity and majesty among the trees of the forest. Let us now 



