48 Gilpin's forest scbneey. 



this respect. The limbs of most trees spring from. 

 the trunk. In the Oak they may be rather said to 

 divide from it ; for they generally carry with them 

 a great share of the substance of the stem. You 

 often scarcely know which is stem and which is 

 branch; and, towards the top, the stem is entirely 

 lost in the branches. This gives particular pro- 

 priety to the epithet fortes in characterizing the 

 branches of the Oak ; and hence its sinewy elbows 

 are of such peculiar use in ship-building. Who- 

 ever, therefore, does not mark the fortes ramos of 

 the Oak, might as well, in painting a Hercules, 

 omit his muscles. But I speak only of the hardy 

 veterans of the forest. In the effeminate nurslings 

 of the grove we have not this appearance. There, 

 the tree is all stem, drawn up into height. When 

 we characterize a tree, we consider it in its natural 

 state, insulated, and without any lateral pressure. 

 In a forest, trees natm-ally grow in that manner. 

 The seniors depress all the juniors that attempt to 

 rise near them. But in a planted grove all grow 

 up together ; and none can exert any power over 

 another. ^ 



The nest characteristic of the Oak taken notice 



