THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 161 



smooth. The acorns are brown, oblong-oval, set one-third of their 

 length in a spreading cup covered with loose scales. The bark is used 

 in tanning ; the wood is reddish, like that of the White Oak ; is used 

 in ship-building, and for fuel is esteemed next to the hickory, and is 

 the best of all our oaks for this purpose. It is one of the annual 

 fructification species. 



liED Oak, quercus ifuhra. This species belongs to the biennial 

 section, and is found as far north as the Saskatchewan, and is one of 

 the most common in Canada. It is a tall, wide-spreading tree, often 

 attaining a height of eighty feet, with a diameter of from three to four 

 feet. The leaves are smooth, shining on both sides, large, deeply 

 laciniated, and rounded at the base. In autumn they change to a 

 dull red, afterwards becoming yellow as they fall. The acorns are 

 large, contained in flat cups covered with narrow scales. The wood is 

 reddish, coarse grained, strong, but not durable, and is principally used 

 for staves. The bark is used in tanning, but is not as highly esteemed 

 as that of the Hock Chestnut and Black Oak. 



Black Oak, quercua tinctoHa. This species is not only widely 

 distributed, but is very abundant. It is one of our loftiest trees, rising 

 to the height of eighty or ninety feet, and measuring four or five feet 

 in diameter. The leaves are large, deeply laciniated, and divided into 

 four or five lobes. The leaves of the young trees change in autumn 

 to a dull red, while those of the old trees become yellow. The trunk 

 is covered with a deeply furrowed bark, which is black or very dark 

 brown, whence it probably derives its name of Black Oak. The wood 

 is reddish and coarse grained, and is used largely for staves, or as a 

 substitute for white oak for other purposes. Trom the cellular tissue 

 of this oak is obtained the material known as quercitron, used in 

 dyeing wool, silk and paper hangings. This is probably the most 

 valuable of those oaks which belong to the section of biennial fructifi- 

 cation, and only second to the white oak. 



SWINDLING TEEE AGENTS. 



BY D. B. HOOVER, ALMIUA. 



Several years ago we were greatly pestered in this section with a 

 lot of swindling tree agents. They roamed through the country pulling 

 the wool over the eyes of a good many young iarmers, who had about 



