36 BRITISH OAK GALLS. 
planted in a flower-pot and allowed to remain for 
several years. 
For experimental gall-growing acorn seedlings are 
best at the third or fourth year. 
The following observations made of the growth 
from an acorn of a small tree may be of interest : 
A large acorn of Q. pedunculata was planted in 
open ground of a garden in the autumn of the year 
1875, and the spot marked. The following summer 
the seedling developed in the usual manner. It has 
now (1908) grown to the following dimensions: 
Height, 20 ft.; girth of trunk at emergence from 
the ground, 35 in.; at 3 ft. from the ground, 28 in.; 
area covered by lower limbs, 15 ft. in diameter. 
The oak often throws out new wood during the 
summer in the form of long, pale-green (red also some- 
times) sappy shoots, which frequently bear many fully- 
developed leaves. These shoots are known as Lammas 
shoots, from the fact that they are seen early in 
August. They grow from buds, which instead of 
remaining dormant until the following spring thrust 
out their latent growth on account of a wet season 
following several hot,dry months. Some trees always 
produce these shoots. A specimen shown to the author 
several years ago was 7 inches long, with 12 leaves 
on it. It was growing from a shoot of the year, 
measuring 5 inches, with 9 leaves, all of which bore 
a great number of Neuroterus lenticularis galls, 
while the leaves of the Lammas shoot had no galls 
on them. 
The strength and durability of oak timber is such 
as is found in no other European tree, and when 
grown in perfection it is the most valuable wood pro- 
duced in temperate climates. It is hard, little liable 
to crack or split, and being close-grained is easy to 
work. The heart-wood varies somewhat in colour; its 
normal colour is a pale brown. 
The technical properties of oak wood are very 
varied. The chief feature is the annular rings, which 
