AMENTIFERZ. 153 
tinues torpid, like other deciduous trees, during the remainder of the winter, and 
vegetates in the spring at the usual season.” 
A gigantic oak stands on the estate of the Earl of Albermarle, at Winfarthing, near 
Diss, in Norfolk, known as the “ Winfarthing Oak.” In 1820 this tree measured 
seventy feet in circumference at the extremity of the roots; in the middle, forty feet. 
The trunk is quite hollow, and the inside presents a most curious appearance, resembling 
old rugged masonry. It is fitted up with seats, a table, &c. An arm was blown off 
in 1811, which contained two waggon-loads of wood. It is said to have been known 
as the “Old Oak,” in the time of William the Conqueror, but of this we have no 
certainty. Our own poet Cowper has immortalised an oak tree at Castle Ashby in 
Northamptonshire, and a poetical fragment, called “ Yardley Oak,” is amongst his 
collected works, which refers to this, one of his favourite trees— 
“Time made thee what thou wert—King of the woods, 
And time hath made thee what thou art—a cave 
For owls to roost in! Once thy spreading boughs 
O’erhung the champaign, and the numerous flock 
That grazed it stood beneath that ample copse 
Uncrowded, yet safe sheltered from the storm. 
No flock frequents thee now ; thou hast outlived 
Thy popularity, and art become 
(Unless verse rescue thee awhile) a thing 
Forgotten, as the foliage of thy youth!” 
The Royal Oak of Boscobel, in which Charles II. took refuge after the Battle of 
Worcester, was destroyed by a stupid passion for relics, and a huge bulk of timber, 
consisting of many loads, was taken away in handfuls. 
In Scotland there are many remarkable oaks. The “ Wallace Oak,” in Ellerslie, 
the native village of the hero Wallace, was still standing when Loudon wrote in 1844. 
It is said that he and 300 of his followers hid themselves in its branches from the 
English. 
Germany and France can both boast of their ancient and large oak trees, and 
records of many of them are kept by distinguished foresters. The statistics collected 
by Mr. London as to the size, age, and value of oak-trees, both in the British islands 
and on the Continent, are very interesting. The terms used popularly to designate 
different kinds of oaks are given and explained. 
Bull oaks are very old hollow trees, so called from bulls taking shelter in them. 
Boundary oaks form divisions between counties and property of various kinds. 
There are many “ Gospel Oaks” in England, so called from the custom of open-air 
preaching under their shade. 
The bark of this and the following species of oak-tree, is alike valuable, and is 
used indiscriminately for tanning. The bark which contains the greatest quantity of 
tannin is obtained from those parts of the branches or trunks which are from twenty 
to thirty years’ growth. Every part of the tree abounds in astringent matter, and 
even the leaves and sawdust will tan leather, linen cloth, netting, or cordage, which 
is to be much exposed to weather. The bark is prepared for tanning by being 
simply ground to a coarse powder between two cast-iron cylinders. Bark cut in the 
spring contains a much larger proportion of tannin than that cut in the autumn, and 
that cut in the autumn more than that cut in the winter. The quantity of tannin in 
oak-bark is considered by all tanners to be in proportion to the freedom with 
which the sap was flowing at the time of stripping, and to the facility with which 
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