December 15, 1S70. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



465 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



Day 



of 



Week. 









Rain in 



Sun 











Clock 



Day 



of 

 Month 



DECEMBER 15—21, 1870. 





ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



after 

 Sun. 



of 

 Year. 











Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





15 



Tn 



Meeting of Linnean Society, 8 P.3I. 





47.0 



S3.6 



40.3 



19 



Iaf8 



49afS 



43af 11 



88 af 



t 



4 39 



349 



16 



F 



Cambridge Michaelmas Term ends. 





46.5 



82.9 



89.7 



15 



2 8 



49 3 



morn. 



54 



23 



4 9 



350 



17 



6 



Oxford Michaelmas Term ends. 





45.9 



84.0 



89.9 



20 



S 8 



49 3 



1 



14 1 



24 



3 40 



351 



18 



Son 



4 Sunday in Advent. 





45.8 



83.7 



89.7 



20 



4 8 



50 3 



22 2 



87 1 



25 



3 10 



852 



19 



M 



Length of Day 7h. 45m. 





45.4 



82.5 



89.5 



16 



5 8 



50 3 



44 8 



1 2 



26 



2 41 



853 



20 



Tu 







44.1 



S3.6 



88.9 



16 



5 8 



50 3 



10 5 



31 2 



27 



2 11 



854 



21 



W 



Shortest Day. 





44.1 



84.0 



39.0 



17 



6 8 



51 S 



35 6 



10 3 



28 



1 41 



855 



From observations taken near London during the Inst fortv-three years 



the averago day temperature of the week 



is 55.4°, 



and its night 



temperature 83.5°. The greatest heat was 59°, on the 15th, 138S ; and th 



e lowest cold 7°, on the 16th, 1853. The greatest fall of rain was 



0.87 inch. 











THE EVERGREEN OAK. 



v Wi^* INCE the rage for Pinuses lias set in with so 

 SiMfcssSL much ardour, it is to be feared that many of 

 i/5*^^fe/ our choice evergreens have been neglected, 

 j^f^Sjl) and orders sent to nurserymen for Phillyreas, 

 "^==^9 Alaternus, Arbutus, and the like are so limited 

 ?@ that it is not unlikely some of these trees and 

 shrubs will by-and-by be regarded as rare. 

 There is also another tree deserving to be 

 more frequently planted than it is, and that 

 is the Evergreen Oak ; for although old gar- 

 dens and grounds present us with many fine examples of 

 this tree, it is seldom met with in a young state. It seems 

 to have somehow lost favour with the working gardener, 

 for it sheds its leaves at a time when the garden .is ex- 

 pected to put on its best garb, and a tree of this kind on 

 the lawn causes a continual sweeping-up of leaves for 

 about two months of the busiest part of summer. Another 

 cause of disfavour is the small number of subjects that 

 promise to become well-shaped trees, most of them taking 

 the shrub or bush form. The latter evil is a difficult one 

 to prevent, for it occurs in plants raised from seed as well 

 as in those from cuttings and layers. To these drawbacks 

 another important one may be added — the Evergreen Oak 

 transplants badly, being in this respect, perhaps, the very 

 worst tree we have to deal with. These united evils no 

 doubt exercise their influence on planters, and lessen the 

 number of trees planted. On the other hand, the fine 

 examples occasionally met with excite a feeling of another 

 kind, and the wish is expressed to have as fine a specimen 

 as that which has been seen. 



In reference, therefore, to the planting of this tree, I 

 believe the most successful results have been accomplished 

 by planting in May, and even at the end of that month, 

 but I only give this advice on the authority of a friend, as 

 I have not personally transplanted at that time. Young 

 trees are also recommended. If the weather is dry and 

 bright, some shading is desirable for a few days, and a 

 shower of rain will work wonders ; by the end of summer 

 the tree will have assumed its proper costume, and all 

 will go on well. If I had a plantation of this tree to make 

 in the autumn, I would be disposed to adopt the most 

 primitive mode of all, and that would be to put in the 

 acorn where the tree was to grow, and if the soil and 

 subsoil were all right, I would leave the rest in a great 

 measure to Nature. 



I must here state what I have already said in other 

 places— that I am no enemy to tap roots of any kind, 

 excepting as regards some fruit trees, and I am not sure 

 they are injurious to the latter ; but with respect to all 

 deciduous forest trees, Pinuses, shrubs, and the like, I 

 have first to learn the harm such roots do ere I condemn 

 them. On the other hand, there can be no question of 

 their utility, or Nature would not furnish them ; they give 

 the tree a sort of anchorage in the ground, so necessary 

 for resisting the winds, and we may rest pretty well assured 

 that tap roots are only formed on such trees as want them. 

 We must consequently act directly at variance with 

 No. 507.— Vol XIX., New Semes, 



Nature's laws if we remove roots so necessary to the tree 

 or shrub : therefore, by sowing the seed where the plant 

 has to grow, every facility is given to its roots extending 

 in any direction which may be most beneficial. I have a 

 shrewd guess that in half a dozen years a plant so reared 

 will be larger than one transplanted at the same tune as 

 the seed was sown, providing fair treatment be accorded 

 in both cases, and the healthy vigorous appearance of the 

 young seedling would be much in its favour ; and possibly 

 some interest might attach to it by some juvenile member 

 of the family putting the seed in the ground, and in after 

 life being able to point out a large fine tree that he remem- 

 bered sowing. The Evergreen Oak affords as good a 

 memento as anything, and from the appearance of old 

 specimens, seems likely to retain its vitality for a much 

 longer period than many Pinuses. 



Having in some degree described the mode by which 

 ill success in planting may be easily prevented, for seed 

 is plentiful enough, I will next take in hand the more 

 difficult problem of inducing shrub-looking plants to be- 

 come trees. Here, it must be confessed, a great departure 

 from Nature must be made, and the knife and stake put 

 in requisition, but they may be used with better hopes of 

 success on this tree than on many others, for I do not 

 know of anything deciduous or evergreen that bears a 

 severe pruning with less injury than the Evergreen Oak ; 

 even trees of large size may be half-cut away without 

 injury when it is necessary to improve their shape, and 

 they speedily feather out and recover a furnished appear- 

 ance on the sicle which has been cut. Trees of 30 feet 

 high, or more, and provided with three or four leaders, may 

 have them reduced to one with a good prospect of that 

 doing well ; and whatever beauty there may be in a fine 

 spreading head, there is more when that head emanates 

 from a bole of some length. In all cases, therefore, I 

 would advise a certain amount of clear stem if it can be 

 had, and in most instances this can be secured by timely 

 and judicious pruning ; or should this happen to have 

 been neglected till late, even then, as stated above, the 

 tree, if healthy, will endure it with less injury than most 

 others of a like kind. 



Fine specimens of Evergreen Oaks are often met with. 

 Witness the fine trees about Fulham. One in the nursery 

 of the Messrs. Osborn, where there are 'also several 

 remarkable trees, is verj' fine, as are also some others in 

 the same neighbourhood. ; while one of the finest I ever 

 saw was in the grounds of Yotes Court, the seat of Lord 

 Torrington, in Kent. This tree, however, scarcely showed 

 any stem, but had a fine spreading head of upwards of 

 80 feet in diameter, exhibiting foliage of the deepest green. 

 Differing from this in everything excepting vigorous health 

 was one I met with not many days ago in the grounds at 

 Barham Court, a fine old place, where there are other 

 remarkable trees, including many of recent introduction, 

 the present proprietor, R. Leigh, Esq., having directed 

 much attention to them. The Oak referred to is more 

 upright than usual, there being a clear bole of 10 or 12 feet 

 without a branch, and the girth of this bole at about 

 J 5 feet from the ground, where the stem is as smooth 



No. 1159,— Vol. XLIV., Old Seeies 



