ACORN. 19 



in its mouth, and with the greatest rapidity they make a 

 small hole in the earth and cover it over as a repository 

 for their winter food : this they continue to repeat during 

 the proper season. We may conclude that many of these 

 hoards escape their subsequent search, and spring up to 

 form Britannia's glorious bulwark. Can we see, and not 

 estimate the admirable harmony of Nature-? 



John Ellis, Esq, discovered that acorns can be pre- 

 served in a state fit for vegetation for a whole year, by 

 enveloping them in bees' wax : other seeds may be con- 

 veyed from distant countries by the same means. 



In transplanting trees of any considerable size, more 

 attention should be observed to the ancient practice of 

 marking the bark so as to give them the same aspect they 

 enjoyed in their original situation ; an attentive observer 

 will perceive that nature often clothes the northern bark 

 with a coat of lichen, while the southern side is bare to 

 the softer rains and warmer aspect ; may not even the 

 bark itself be formed for each particular aspect ? Because 

 we find some superstitious customs among the Romans, 

 let us not condemn all their practices, but take a lesson 

 from Virgil's unrivalled poem : - 



Quinetiam Cali regionem in cortice signant ; 

 Ut quo quceque modo steterit, qua parte calores 

 Austrinos tulerit ; quce terga obverterit axi, restituanf. 



" Also Heaven's quarters on the bark they score, 

 That they may coast it as it was before, 

 Which Southern heat sustain'd, which view'd the Pole." 



The oak principally used for wainscot, &c., is brought 

 from Dantzic and Norway. 



The evergreen oak (ilex) is a native of the south of 

 Europe, and is planted merely 'to ornament our gardens 

 and plantations : this variety was introduced into England 

 in 1581, and is found to grow in great perfection on the 



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