VIII.] 



BRITISH OAK. 



45 



to the belief that these defects are less frequent in the 

 Quercus Robur pedunculata, whatever the .situation or 

 soil may be upon which they are grown. 



There appears to be little difficulty in rearing the Oak 

 tree ; it thrives in almost any soil, except that which is 

 boggy or peaty ; but to bring it to the greatest perfec- 

 tion, it is preferable to have a rich loam with a clayey 

 subsoil. It will even spring up again from the old stool, 

 or root, and without requiring any attention, produce, in 

 time, one or more fine trees in place of that which was 

 first cut down. 



The following dimensions of nine Oak trees that 

 were growing only a few years since (and possibly are 

 so still) at Woburn Abbey Park, may be interesting, as 

 showing the size they will attain upon a favourable soil. 

 The particulars are taken from a small book, published 

 in 1832, under the superintendence of the Society for 

 the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge : 

 TABLE III. 



