a THE OAK. 



does in many other parts of England, and I 

 believe tlie use for whicli it commands the 

 highest price in the present age, is for the 

 purposes of the. coffin makers !Por in this, 

 as well as in many other comities, it is 

 a strong feeling among families who can 

 gratify the wish from their circumstances 

 in hfe, that their own last suit, as weU 

 as of their relatives and friends, should be 

 placed within an oaken coffin. Therefore as 

 population increases, this is not only the best 

 market as to price, but of proportionate in- 

 crease and of inevitable certainty — and 

 speculation to any extent in such a com- 

 modity could hardly be termed "ganibling;" 

 and though the bark does not, nor can it be 

 expected to fetch so high a price as it did in 

 war time, yet the tanners of our day prefer 

 English bark to any foreign substitute which 

 has: hitherto been tried to supersede the use 

 of it. And while, in its youth, and before it 

 reaches its manhood, it is in; vety large de- 

 mand for use as post-wood for our colheries, 



