BOOK III. HARD-WOODED NON-RESINOUS TREES. 



671 



as an ornamental tree. It grows faster for the first 

 twenty or thirty years of its growth than any other 

 tree of the genus, excepting the larch. Some of the 

 finest specimens in England are at Woburn, in the 

 evergreen-drive, planted by Miller. The tree 

 called the grand silver fir there, measured, in 1810, 

 nine feet ten inches in diameter, at four feet from 

 the ground ; it has a clean-pruned stem of seventy- 

 five feet, and the estimated height is upwards of. 

 110 feet. 



7064. Use. The timber is reckoned inferior to that of the 

 common pine, and is not of much value till of forty or fifty 

 years' growth. According to Sang, though till of late years 

 planted only as an ornamental tree, " yet there is, perhaps, 

 none of the genus more worthy of cultivation for the sake 

 of its timber." It is more prolific in resinous matter than 

 any of the fir kind. 



7065. Its soil and site are nearly similar to those most 

 desirable for the common spruce ; but it requires a climate 

 rather milder, and a more loamy earth. On poor sands, 

 where the common pine and larch will thrive, it dies off in 



a year or two after planting. None of the genus are more majestic on a lawn j but its characteristic or 

 natural situation, is in dells, and on the sides of sheltered rocky steeps- 



7066. The balm of Gilead fir (P. Balsamea) (Lam. pin. 48. t. 31.) (fig. 671. 6) is 

 an American tree of much smaller stature, and more delicate habits than the silver fir. 

 Its timber is of little value ; nor can the tree be reckoned very ornamental, though fre- 

 quently planted for the sake of variety. The balm or resin procured from it possesses 

 no medical properties superior to those of common turpentine ; but the tree during sum- 

 mer sends out a pleasing terebinthinate odor. 



7067. The hemlock-spruce, or hemlock-fir, (P. Canadensis) (Lam. pin. 50. t. 32.) ( fig. 

 671. c) is a drooping, low, evergreen tree, which may be considered as entirely ornamental. 



SECT. II. Hard-wooded non-resinous Trees. 



7068. Of hard-wooded trees we shall give a few descriptive traits of the principal species ; 

 the most important of which are the oak, ash, elm, chestnut, and beech. 



7069. The oak is the Quercus, L. Moncec. Polyan. L. and Amentaceee, J. Chene, Fr.; 

 Eich, Ger.; and Quercia, Ital. The following species and varieties are planted for their 

 timber. 



7070. The common oak (Q. robur) (Eng. Bot. 1845.) is a native of Britain. It grows to the height of fifty 

 or sixty feet when in a heavy loam ; flowers in- April, and ripens its acorns in October and November. 

 The most valuable variety of the common oak is said (Caled. Hart. Mem. iii. 376.) to be the pedunculata 

 (Eng. Bot. 1342.), or the stalk-fruited ; by some considered a distinct species. It is distinguished from 

 Q. robur by the marked circumstance of the acorns being placed on long fruit-stalks, whilst those of the 

 robur are nearly sessile. Besides, the superior utility and hardiness of the timber, the pedunculated oak 

 is, in fact, the more magnificent of the two British sorts. Miller says, this variety of the Q. robur (and 

 which he calls the fcemina,) is more rare than the sessile-fruited ; but Professor Martyn says, this is not 

 the case, and that the pedunculated is equally general as the other. It is observed by Du Hamel, that 

 oaks in forests being propagated from the acorn, there are so many varieties that it is difficult to find two 

 resembling each other in every respect. Professor Martyn observes, that the figures in ancient authors 

 have the fruit uniformly on foot-stalks, which shows that that variety had been most common : and Ray 

 considers it as the common oak of England. Du Roi affirms, that the timber of the sessile-fruited is red- 

 dish, and brittle, whilst that of the stalk-fruited is whitish and hard. From these and various accounts, 

 as well as our own observation, we consider ourselves justified in recommending to nurserymen and others, 

 who gather acorns for seeds, to take effectual precautions that only the stalked sort be gathered. 



7071. The Turkey oak (Q. cerris) (Du Roi, 2. t. 5. f. 1.), a native of the south of Europe, introduced in 

 1735. This species is distinguished by oblong, pointed, and frequently lyrate leaves, jagged, and a little 

 hoary on the under side. The acorns are small, and have rough prickly cups. The tree grows from forty 

 to sixty feet high. There are several varieties, but the best is that called the Devonshire or Luccombe, from 

 the name of the person who raised it from seeds, saved from a tree of the Turkey oak grown in Devonshire. 



7072. Other oaks. There are about forty species of exotic oaks introduced in this country, which may 

 be considered as timber-trees, and are such in effect, in their native countries. Of these the greater part 

 are natives of America ; and it has been recommended (Caled. Mem. iii. 378.) to cultivate the Q. tinctoria 

 or Quercitron on account of its bark, which affords a valuable yellow dye ; all these species, however, arc 

 either too tender, or too scarce, or too dwarfish, and slow-growing, to warrant us in considering any 

 other than the common and Luccombe oaks, as fit for the purposes of profitable planting, 



7073. Use. The oak cannot be considered 

 so valuable a tree for general purposes as the 

 common pine and larch; but its great 

 strength and durability will probably 



maintain its superiority in Europe, and thef^s?^ ' -**~<*z^frlM>j l 'MZZ~^'ty~ "3 ~~J?^'J 

 other temperate regions of the globe, as^=%^\s- ^ -^ ^m ',, ., y/pp v / *=C*\/ 



a material for naval architecture. Thel&'C,^ *&..' JlEUAJi^ VA V JT*J?VX 

 timber is useful at every age, and more dur- 

 able when of small diameter than that of 

 any other of the hard woods ; the value of 

 the bark of young trees is greater than that 

 of such as are old" 



7074. Soil and site. It grows best in a deep 

 clayey loam, not beyond a moderate elev- 

 ation above the sea ; but it will grow in any 

 soil not marshy, not attaining, however, a 



large size in poor sands or at a considerable elevation. 



672 



