THE GROWTH OF THE OAK 



here : nursery-grown oaks, now obtainable from 

 any modern establishment, have usually been 

 frequently moved or transplanted, as the trade 

 term goes, and this means that they have 

 established a somewhat self-contained root sys- 

 tem, which will give them far greater vigor 

 and cause them to take hold sooner when 

 finally placed in a situation where they are to 

 be permanent features. The reason is plain : 

 the forest seedling, in the fierce struggle for 

 existence usually prevailing, must send its roots 

 far and wide for food, and when it is dug out 

 their feeding capacity is so seriously curtailed as 

 to check the growth of the tree for many years. 

 The nursery-grown tree, on the contrary, has 

 been brought up "by hand," and its food has 

 always been convenient to it, leading to more 

 rapid growth and a more compact root system. 

 I only interject this prosaic fact here in the 

 hope that some of my tree-loving readers will 

 undertake to plant some oaks instead of only 

 the soft -wooded and less permanent maples, 

 poplars, and the like. 



Another simulative leaf is that of the laurel- 

 oak, and it is color and gloss as well as shape 



43 



