338 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



for it, that most timber merchants are now quick to appreciate the difference between 

 brown and common oak, and the best quahties of it are sometimes sold for as much 



as I OS. per cubic foot. 1 • u • 1 



When the wood shows the blackish streaks running through it, which is known 

 as tortoise-shell grain, it is most valued for cutting veneers. These are laid in thin 

 sheets on other wood, partly to make it go farther, and also because this wood is so 

 difficult to season properly, and so wasteful in conversion that it is not safe to use m 



the form of thick boards. 



My friend, Dr. Weld of Boston, U.S.A., who is a great connoisseur and 

 admirer of fine woods, and especially of brown oak, showed me at his house the 

 most magnificent specimens of panelling and wainscoting, done under his own 

 supervision by Messrs. Noyes and Whitcombe of Boston, with oak which he 

 selected and purchased himself in England. In their works I saw a quantity of 

 carved brown oak pews, and a very large brown oak organ front designed by Mr. 

 C. Brigham, architect, of 12 Bosworth Street, Boston, for a memorial church at 

 Fairhaven, Mass. Mr. Whitcombe was good enough to show me the manner in 

 which the boards are seasoned after they are cut from the logs, which are imported 

 in the rough as an unmanufactured product to escape the heavy duty. Dry white 

 pine boards fresh from the hot-air kiln are laid on each side of the oak boards, 

 and properly stripped in an open covered shed. When the moisture has been 

 partially absorbed, they are all turned over and again sandwiched between fresh 

 dry pine boards ; thus saving a great deal of time, which is rarely given to 

 season timber properly in America, and preparing the wood to stand the con- 

 ditions of dryness, which are more trying to furniture in American than in 

 English houses. 



Mr. C. M'Kim, a distinguished American architect, writes me as follows 

 respecting English oak: — "We regard it as the most beautiful oak in the world, 

 costly because of its scarcity and the duties imposed upon it ; requiring the best 

 workmanship in putting it together ; but preferred above all others for its finer 

 quality, richer colour, and endurance. The most important and dignified panelled 

 rooms in this country are furnished in English oak." I also was pleased to find that 

 the great dining-room in the White House at Washington is completely panelled 

 with English brown oak. 



Mr. F. H. Bacon of the A. H. Davenport Company of Boston, one of the 

 best firms for cabinet work in the United States, writes : — " Mr. Davenport has 

 been using it in his business for at least thirty years, and we think it is a wood which 

 will always be in demand, as a room furnished with English oak has a richness and 

 depth of tone which is impossible to get with any other oak. The wood is becoming 

 more expensive, but I think it will always be used by people who can afford it. It 

 is difficult to work ; the plain surfaces are generally veneered. It stands perfectly 

 well without warping and twisting, and is not attacked by worms as walnut 

 wood is." 



The best example that I have seen of fine brown oak work in England is 

 at Rockhurst, the residence of the late Sir Richard Farrant, in Sussex. This 



