oak. 
OAK. Plate XXI. Strength, solidity, durability are 
symbolized in the Oak. The tree is connected with the 
traditions of the race, and it is associated with litera- 
ture. It is a tree of strong individuality, with bold, free 
growth and massive framework. Its longevity appeals 
to every person, even though he has no feeling for 
trees. It connects the present with the past. It spans 
the centuries. 
This feeling that the Oak represents a long span of 
years is itself the reason why we should consider the 
tree with veneration and let "it live its full time; and 
this is the particular lesson which the writer would im- 
press. Spare the isolated 
Oak trees ! Of whatever 
kind or species, a mature 
Oak is beyond price. To 
allow it to remain be- 
speaks culture and kind- 
ly feeling. 
Many species of Oak 
are now available in nur- 
series. There are per- 
haps 25 species that can 
be relied on for planting 
in the northeastern 
states, and there are par- 
ticular varieties adapted 
to almost every habitable 
part of North America. 
The planting of cheap, 
quick - growing willows 
and poplars is so com- 
mon that one almost de- 
spairs of the time when 
such strong and expres- 
sive trees as Oaks shall be planted. There is little diffi- 
culty in the planting of Oaks if one secures nursery- 
grown stock. They grow more slowly than some other 
trees, but what they lack in rapidity of growth they make 
up in character and foliage color. it quick effects are 
wanted, some fast-growing tree may be planted with 
them, to be removed as the Oaks need the space. Some 
of the species grow nearly or quite as rapidly as hard 
maples, when young. Other species are mere bushes 
and make an excellent border-mass on the farther side 
of large grounds. Of such is the native Scrub-Oak 
(quercus ilici folia) of the eastern states. The native 
species are usually the best for any region, from the 
fact that they are adapted to climate and soil; and 
then, a feeling for common native plants is an indica- 
tion of the highest appreciation and of the keenest re- 
sponse to the conditions in which one lives. 
For a full sketch of the kinds of Oaks, see quercus. 
L. h. b. 
Among the native deciduous trees of the eastern 
united States no kinds are more useful or attractive, 
either in economic value or for ornamental planting, 
than the various species of oaks. hardiness, lon- 
gevity, beauty of foliage and fruit, exemption from the 
injurious attacks of disease or insect pests, and beauty, 
strength and durability of the lumber are among their 
especially valuable characteristics. The family of Oaks 
is a large one, but they mix and vary so much by 
natural hybridization and geographical variations that 
their botany is puzzling to all but the most astute 
scientific students. Casual observers and amateur bot- 
anists who attempt their study find them an interesting 
but difficult family to identify. A sprig from a tree 
which is probably a hybrid between the willow and Pin 
Oaks, Fig. 1505, is a fair sample of the kind of variations 
which are frequent in Oak forests. Experienced woods- 
men, who are quite familiar with all the Oaks in their 
neighborhood, find that, a few miles from home, on dif- 
ferent soil and elevation, they meet with varietal differ- 
ences of bark, foliage, fruit and general appearance o 
trees which they can scarcely associate with the species 
as they have known them. 
That Oaks have been esteemed and admired from 
time immemorial is evidenced by the numerous forms 
in which their leaves and fruit "appear in all kinds of 
ornamentations in all ages. 
Acorns of all species are objects of interest, but the 
larger forms, especially those of the Fringed or Mossy- 
cup Oak, are particularly attractive. 
In autumn the foliage of oaks remains green until 
many other trees have shed their leaves; then they as- 
sume rich shades of red, bronze and brown, presenting 
a splendor of ripening foliage less brilliant but not less 
beautiful than that which, a few weeks before, arrayed 
some of their forest companions so gorgeously. 
It has been said that "who plants oaks, plants for 
posterity." Too often this has been interpreted to mean 
that Oak trees grow and develop so slowly that a planter 
may not reasonably expect to realize much benefit from 
his own plantings, but that long after he has passed 
away posterity will reap the harvest which he has sown. 
Judged from a lumberman's standpoint, this is nearly 
correct. The Pin Oak and some other species are ma- 
ture at from 75 to 80 years of age, and seldom live more 
than 100 years, but the White Oaks are not fit for 
sawing into lumber until they have passed 125 years of 
age, and most of the large valuable trees are much older 
than this. 
The White Oak, found naturally on low lands and clay 
soil, is unquestionably the patriarchal aristocrat among 
native trees of the eastern U. S. While it is a sorrow- 
ful fact that nearly all the tall forest Oaks with large 
trunks have fallen before the march of human progress, 
still there are a few venerable specimens left, with very 
large, spreading heads, but whose trunks are so short 
as to have little commercial value. These have un- 
doubtedly stood for several centuries, and are still in 
unimpaired strength and vigor, being typical speci- 
mens of the natural development of their species when 
allowed time and room for growth in open clearings. 
One notable example i.s a white Oak in the Friends' 
graveyard iu the city of Salem, N. J. Its trunk is 19 ft. 
in circumference 3 ft. from the ground, and its branches 
cover an area 118 ft. in diameter north and south, and 
105 ft. east and west. Another specimen in North Mt. 
Moriah Cemetery, in Delaware county. Pa., in the sub- 
urbs of Philadelphia, measures 28 ft. 4 in. in circumfer- 
ence of trunk a foot above ground, and 22 ft. 4 in. at 3 
ft. above ground, the branches spreading 96 and 106 ft. 
in diameter. 
A few years ago one such white Oak was ruthlessly 
destroyed near South Glastonbury, Conn., by its vandal 
owner for the value of the fire-wood it contained. These 
trees were no doubt well 
established in the soil be- 
fore christopher Columbus 
discovered America. Such 
it is a pity that they cannot 
be protected by law, and 
unappreciative owners be ' 
taught to regard such vener- 
able trees for the pleasure 
which their presence affords 
to an intelligent public, 
from no other motive. a 
fine old pasture oak is 
shown in Fig. 1506. 
Considered from a gar- 
dener's or planter's stand- 
point, the Oaks are among 
the most valuable of our na- 
tive trees. An idea that they are very difficult to trans- 
plant and slow of growth, for many years almost barred 
them from cultivation, but experiments made within 
the past 20 years have done much to correct this popu- 
(1110) 
