122 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



age and immense size, which attests the fitness of the soil 

 and climate, and displays the grandeur of our native species. 

 The Wadsworth Oak near Geneseo, N. Y., of extraordinary 

 dimensions, the product of one of our most fertile valleys, 

 has attracted the admiration of hundred's of travellers on 

 the route to Niagara. ^ Its trunk measures thirty-six feet in 

 circumference. The celebrated Charter Oak at Hartford, 

 which has figured so conspicuously in the history of New 

 England, is still existing in a green old age, one of the most 

 interesting monuments of the past to be found in the 

 country. 



Near the village of Flushing, Long Island, on the farm 

 of Judge Lawrence, is growing one of the noblest oaks in 

 the country. It is truly park-like in its dimensions, the 

 circumference of the trunk being nearly thirty feet, and its 

 majestic head of corresponding dignity. In the deep 

 alluvial soil of the western valleys, the oak often assumes 

 a grand aspect, and bears witness to the wonderful fertility 

 of the soil in that region. 



Different species of Oalt. This country is peculiarly 

 rich in various kinds of oak ; Michaux enumerating no less 

 than forty species indigenous to North America. Of these 

 the most useful are the Live oak {Quercus virens), of such 

 inestimable value for ship-building ; the Spanish oak (Q. 

 faleata) ; the Red oak (Q. rubra), etc., the bark of which 

 is extensively used in tanning; the Quercitron or Black 

 oak, which is highly valuable as affording a fine yellow or 

 brown dye for wool, silks, paper-hangings, etc. ; and the 

 White oak, which is chiefly used fcr timber. We shall 



