Transactions of the London Horticultural Society. 83 



one foot lower, it will be found that it is increased very little ; consequently, 

 by the use of the movable trellis, we should have an opportunity of lowering 

 the vine, and thereby placing it in a more temperate atmosphere, of from 5 to 

 6, 7, or 8 degrees." 



41. Observations on the Qualiti/ of the Oak Timber produced in Great 

 Britain. By William Atkinson, Esq., F.H.S. 



This is an important paper. What is called the durmast 

 oak is merely a variety which produces mast or acorns of a dun 

 colour ; and such dun-coloured acorns are found on trees both 

 of Quercus pedunculata and Q. sessilifl6ra. 



" The Q. pedunculata is easily known by the acorns having long stalks, and 

 the leaves having very short footstalks, or, in some specimens, hardly any. 

 In the Q. sessiliflora, the leaves have footstalks from a quarter to one inch in 

 length, and the acorns sit close to the branch, having hardly any stalks. 



" With respect to the qualities of our two native oaks, the Q. pedunculata 

 contains a great quantity of the silver grain, which shows, when the wood is 

 planed, what workmen call the flower in the wood. In consequence of this, 

 the wood splits clean and easy, and is best adapted for split paling and laths. 

 It is also a stifFer wood ; and, though it may be broken with a less weight than 

 the Q. sessiliflora, yet it requires a much greater weight to bend it, and is 

 therefore best calculated for beams, or to bear the greatest weight without 

 bending. 



" The Q. sessiliflora contains so small a portion of the silver grain, or flower, 

 that wood of that kind from old buildings has generally been mistaken for 

 sweet chestnut (Castanea vesca). During the last thirty years 1 have taken 

 every opportunity of procuring specimens of wood from old buildings, and 

 particularly what the carpenters called chestnut ; but I have never, in a single 

 instance, seen a piece of chestnut from an old building : what has been taken 

 for that wood, I have always found to be the Q. sessiliflora, mistaken for 

 chestnut from its deficiency of the flower or silver grain. 



" The roof of Westminster Hall has been said to be chestnut : while it was 

 under repair, I procured various specimens from different parts of the roof; 

 the whole of them were oak, and chiefly the Q. sessiliflora. Most of the 

 black oak from trees dug out of the ground I have found to be of the same 

 kind. From finding the wood from the oldest buildings about London to be 

 chiefly of the Q. sessilifldra, I should suppose that, some centuries ago, the 

 chief part of the natural woods were of that kind; at present the greater part 

 of the oak grown in the south of England is the Q. pedunculata. 



" Specimens of oaks that I have procured from different parts of York- 

 shire and the county of Durham have been all Q. sessilifldra, which is very 

 scarce in the south. There are some trees of it at Kenwood, the Earl of 

 Mansfield's, near Highgate, which I believe to be one of the oldest woods near 

 London, and a greater part of the Q. sessiliflora appear to be trees from old 

 stools. 



" Q. sessilifl6ra appears to grow equally well with Q. pedunculata : it is a 

 handsomer tree in the foliage; and, from finding so much of it sound in old 

 buildings, I suspect it may be the most durable. It bends from a weight much 

 sooner than Q. pedunculata, but requires a much greater weight to break it. 

 From its toughness, I consider it best calculated for ship timber. The old 

 Sovereign of the Seas was broken up after forty-seven years' service, much 

 longer than the general durability of ships ; and, as the wood the ship was 

 built of was had from the north of England, it is very probable it was the Q. 

 sessiliflora. 



" Turkey oak (Q. Cerris) is a native of the Levant, and, I believe, is found 

 in many parts of Poland, particularly about Warsaw. The introduction of 

 this oak into England has been within the last century ; therefore we have 



