QUERCUS. 



off" by young leaves in the fpring. The acorns are fmaller 

 than thofe of the common oak, but of the fame fliapc. 



The twelfth fpecies has alfo two or three varieties ; one 

 with a broad leaf, a fecond with a narrow leaf, both ever- 

 green ; and one or two which cafl their leaves in autumn : 

 but the broad-leaved evergreen is the moll common. The 

 leaves of this are entire, about two inches long, and an inch 

 and quarter broad, with a little down on their under fides, 

 on very Ihort footllalks : tliefe leaves continue green through 

 the winter till the middle of May, when they generally fall 

 off jull before the new leaves come out, fo that the trees 

 are often almofl. bare for a Ihort time. The acorns are very 

 like thofe of the common oak. 



The exterior bark forms the cork, which is taken from 

 the tree every eight or ten years ; but there is an interior 

 bark which nourifhes them, fo that llripping off the outer 

 bark is fo far from injuring the trees, that it is neced'ary to 

 contisue them : for, when the bark is not taken off, they 

 feldoni laft longer than 50 or 60 years in health ; whereas 

 • trees which are barked every eight or ten years will live 

 I JO years, or more. The bark of a young tree is porous, 

 and good for little : however, it is neceffary to take it off, 

 when the trees are twelve or fifteen years old, for without 

 this die bark will never be good. After eight or ten years, 

 the bark will be fit to take off again ; but this fecond peel- 

 ing is of httle ufe. At the third peeling, the bark will be 

 in perfection, and will continue fo for 1 50 years ; as the 

 beft cork is taken from, old trees. The time for llripping 

 the bark is in July, when the fecond fap flows plentifully : 

 the operation is performed with an inllrumeiit like that 

 which is ufed for difbarking the oak. 



It is from the laft fpecies they collect the kermes, or 

 fcarlet grain, a httle red gall, occafioned by the punfture 

 of an infeft called coccus ilicis. With this the ancients ufed 

 to dye cloth of a beautiful colour. 



Method of Culture. — Thefe trees are all capable of being 

 raifed from the feed or acorns, which, in the common oak, 

 (hould be gathered in autumn when quite ripe, juil as they 

 drop from the trees ; but thofe of moft of the foreign oaks 

 are generally procured from abroad, and fold by the feedf- 

 men. 



All the forts fhould be fown as foon after they are ob- 

 tained as poffible, as they are apt to fprout if they remain 

 long out of the ground ; and for their reception, a fpot of 

 light ground in the nurfery {hould be prepared by digging 

 or ploughing, dividing it into four feet wide beds, in which 

 the acorns fhould be fown, either in drills, two inches deep, 

 in five or fix rows lengthwife of the bed ; or rake the mould 

 off the bed, the depth of two inches, into the alleys ; then 

 fowing the acorns all over the furface, about two or three 

 inches apart, prefs them down with the fpade, and fpread 

 the earth evenly over them two inches thick. When they 

 come, up in the fpring, they {hould have occafional waterings 

 and weeding ; and when the plants are one or two years old, 

 it is proper to plant them out in nurfery-rows : this may be 

 done in autumn, winter, or early in the fpring, taking them 

 carefully up out of the feed-bed, {hortening their perpendi- 

 cular tap-roots, and trimming off any lateral (hoots from 

 the ftem, leaving their top perfeftly entire ; then planting 

 them in lines two feet and a half afunder, and fifteen or 

 eighteen inches in the rowjs, where they ffiould Hand, with 

 the ufual nurfery care, till of a proper fizc for final planting 

 out either as foreft trees, or for ornament, training them up 

 as full ftaudards, with cleaa ftraight Hems, and with their 

 tops Hill entire. 



But in raifing the ftriped-leaved varieties of the common 

 oak, and any particular variety of the other fpecies, it 



(hould be by grafting, far, they will not continue the fame 

 from feed,) which (hould be performed upon any kind of 

 oakling ftocks raifed from the acorns, and. trained for 

 ftandards, as in other kinds. 



With refprft to the final planting out, it may be per- 

 formed in all forts of deciduous oaks any time in open 

 fettled weather, from November till February or March • 

 and in the evergreen kinds in Oftober, November, or the 

 fpring ; and in a mild open feafon in any of the winter 

 months. 



When the trees of all the forts are from about three or 

 four to fix feet Itature, they are proper for being planted 

 out for good ; though, as foreft or timber trees, it is better 

 to plant them out finally while they are quite young, as 

 from two to three or four feet in height ; or when planted 

 immediately from the feed-bed, where they are to remain, 

 it may be advantageous, as the very young oaks root more 

 freely than older trees, and take a freer growth. Thofe 

 dcfigned as foreft or timber trees (hould be planted in large 

 open trads of ground, to form woods, placing them in rows 

 only from four or five to ten feet afunder, and from two or 

 three to five or fix feet in the rows, to allow for a gradual 

 thinning. But perhaps the beft method of all for raifing 

 them, as timber trees, is from the feed, by fowing or fetting 

 the acorns. See Plantation and Planting. 



Sometimes, indeed, large plantations of thefe trees, for 

 woods, are raifed by fowing the acorns at once in the places 

 where they are to remain ; it being generally found that the 

 trees raifed at once from the acorn, from their not being 

 checked, much outftrip the tranfplanted trees in their 

 growth. The method of performing it is this : the ground 

 being prepared by good ploughing and harrowing in the 

 autumn, having procured a proper quantity of acorns, draw 

 drills acrofs the ground four feet afunder, and two inches 

 deep, dropping the acorns into them fix or eight inches 

 afunder, allowing for failing and thinning, covering them 

 in evenly with the earth the depth of the drills ; or, inftead 

 of drilling them in, they may be planted with a dibble the 

 fame depth and dlftance. 



The general management of thefe trees in woods, or 

 timber plantations, is the fame as diredled for foreft trees in 

 general. See Plantation. 



All the above forts of trees may be employed to diverfify 

 large ornamental plantations in out-grounds, and in forming 

 clumps in fpacious lawns, parks, and other exteniive open 

 fpaces : the evergreen kinds, in particular, have great merit 

 for all ornamental purpoies in pleafure-grounds and planta- 

 tions. And all the larger growing kinds, both deciduous 

 and evergreens, are highly valuable as foreft trees for tim- 

 ber ; but the firft fort claims precedence as a timber tree, 

 for its prodigious height and bulk, and fuperior worth of 

 the wood. 



In planting any of the fpecies for ornament or variety in 

 large pleafure-grounds, fome may be difpofed in affemblage 

 in any continued plantation, fome in clumps, and others 

 fingly. _ 



All the different forts of the oak will fucceed in any foil 

 of a middling quality, where the expofure is not unfavour- 

 able ; but to the moft advantage, where the land is of a 

 loamy nature : they, however, thrive tolerably in thofe 

 foils which are of a gravelly, fandy, or clayey defcrip- 

 tion. 



Bcfides the great value of thefe forts of trees for the 

 utility and durability of their wood, as timber, for the pur- 

 pofes of fhip-building, houfe -building in fome parts, park- 

 paling, polls, railings, and a variety of other fti-ong ufes ; 

 they, in many of the kinds, afford confiderable additional 



advantage 



