124 White Oak of the United States. 



acorns would retain their vitality during their transit to England. The acorns 

 generally germinate in a slight degree before dropping from the tree ; conse- 

 quently, if they are dried, they are, in effect, malted ; if packed in a moist 

 state they heat, or they germinate and the radicle perishes for want of soil and 

 moisture. Young plants cannot be got from under the trees, because the acorns, 

 as they drop, are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels, pigeons, and other animals, or 

 by swine. Some of the American oaks have thick and hard shells, and do not 

 naturally germinate until the spring. With these sorts there is no difficulty, 

 after they are once collected. They can be packed in moss, dry sand, or 

 simply thrown into a barrel by themselves." The writer goes on to state that 

 he is packing plants of the white oak to be sent to England, in perforated 

 flour barrels, the plants being mixed with fresh moss ; and that he has no 

 doubt that they will arrive safe. The letter from which the above is an ex- 

 tract is dated New York, Nov. 21. \8<^\. Thirty thousand plants arrived 

 safe in 1841, packed in the manner described, and they are now 084'3) in a 

 thriving state, in a favourable soil and situation in Surrey. 



Acorns of the white oak, or of any other, may be brought over with perfect 

 safety, if bedded in moist live moss, and planted as soon as they arrive, with- 

 out pinching off the extremity of such of the radicles as may have pushed 

 above an inch in length. (See Arb. Brit., vol. iii. p. 1867.) 



Plants of the white oak may be obtained by the thousand from several 

 nurserymen in the South of England, who have procured them from the gen- 

 tleman who introduced the 30,000 plants above mentioned. — Cond. 



" In the Descriptive Catalogue of the Derby Arboretum," M. Vilmorin observes, 

 " you have stated that the leaves of Quercus alba, when they die off) neither 

 take the colour of yellow nor red, like the other American oaks. In my 

 plantations at Barres, in which there are above fifty plants of this species, more 

 than a half of them in the autumn take the colour of a beautifnl purple 

 violet." [This we have stated in the Arb. Brit., vol. iii. p. 1865., and the 

 Encyc. of Trees aiid Shrubs, p. 863.] " Neither do I admit the truth of what 

 Cobbett says, that the leaf of the white oak is among the least curious and 

 beautiful of the American oaks ; on the contrary, I consider it one of the 

 most beautiful, and, I should say, one of the most remarkable (le plus dis- 

 tingue) among those of the oaks of America. Its general form, the graceful 

 outline of its lobes, profoundly sinuated and rounded ; their consistence at 

 once thin and firm ; their upper surface smooth and of a clear green, which 

 contrasts agreeably with the beautiful glaucous hue of the under side ; their 

 petioles sometimes of a bright red ; in short, all these features have always 

 appeared to me to give this leaf a charm, and a positive beauty, distinct from 

 those of every other. I speak, it is true, of the leaves such as they show 

 themselves on young and vigorous plants ; perhaps on large trees they lose a 

 good deal of their beauty. I acknowledge, also, that in matters which are 

 judged of merely by the eye, every one judges according to the impression 

 which he has received ; and what I wish to say is, that my impressions are in 

 favour of the leaves of Quercus alba. It is this partiality which has in- 

 duced me to break a lance in its favour, as the chevaliers of other times did 

 for the lady afflicted and molested, whom they took under their protection." 

 — Vilmorin, Paris, Feb. 6. 1843. 



The acorns of the white oak, in America, are preferred before all others for 

 fattening swine ; and the swine are so fond of them, that they will not eat any 

 other acorns as long as those of the white oak last. A good white acorn year 

 is always a good yeai" for pork. — ./. D. Feb. 13. 1843. [A young gardener 

 who spent six months travelling in America, and who is now very anxious to 

 go to China as a natural history collector.] 



