152 THE OAK. 



considered in the technical cultivation of the oak, but 

 enough has been said to give the reader a general ac- 

 count of the procedure, and I now pass to the subject of 

 the dangers and diseases which threaten the tree at 

 various periods in its development, and the timber 

 afterwards. 



The diseases and injuries to which the oak is subject 

 are very numerous and various, although, compared with 

 some other indigenous trees, it suffers remarkably little 

 from the different dangers which await it at all stages 

 in the course of its long life from the seedling to the 

 aged tree. Some of these are referable to the exigencies 

 of the non-living environments the climate, soil, ete. ; 

 others are due to the attacks of living organisms, both 

 vegetable and animal from the weeds which smother 

 the young seedlings by keeping the light from them, to 

 man himself, who injures the trees in various ways. 

 The earliest struggles of the young seedling are with 

 the weeds, slugs, and insects of various kinds that in- 

 vade the territory on which the acorn has germinated ; 

 and of course the baby plant has also to contend against 

 any inclemencies of climate or unsuitableness of soil 

 that it may meet with. Owing to such vicissitudes very 

 many of the seedlings never obtain the dimensions of a 

 plant at all, and in some seasons the mortality is enor- 

 mous. Other destructive agents during these early phases 

 of the life of the oak are cattle and deer, which not only 

 tread down the shoots but also nibble them off, and 

 mice, squirrels, etc., do their share of injury, as also do 



