IS THE STRONGEST. 



415 



be found by those who look to facts instead of books, and the 

 following is conclusive proof that Oak, at least, is best when 

 fastest grown and worst when slowest grown. 



In the highly interesting coUection of naval woods which 

 was formed by the late Sir WUHam Symonds, at the Admiralty 

 Offices in Somerset House, there exists an abundance of speci- 

 mens of Oak-timber whose quality had been ascertained by 

 actual experiment. To this distinguished officer the author 

 was indebted for the opportunity of examining them, and the 

 result of that examination is given in the following table, which 

 shows the annual rate of growth of twenty-three samples of Oak- 

 timber, given in tenths of an inch for the sake of comparison, 

 together with their respective qualities, as ascertained in her 

 Ma,jesty's dockyards : — 



