17S6 



AKBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



The linos from Needwood Forest allude to the Swilcar Oak. (p. 17G9.) 



M First blush the hills with orient light, 

 And pierce the sable veil of night ; 

 Oreen bends the waving shade above, 



And glittering dew drops gem the grove : 

 Next shine the shelving lawns around, 

 Bright threads of silver net the ground ; 

 And down, the entangled brakes among, 

 The white rill sparkling winds along: 

 Then as the panting zephyrs breathe 

 The billowy mist recedes beneath ; 

 Slow, as it rolls away, unfold 

 The vale's fresh glories, green and gold ; 

 Dove laughs, and shakes his tresses bright, 

 And trails afar a line of light : 

 High midst the trees, with many a frown, 

 Huge Swilcar shakes his tresses brown j 

 Outspreads his bare arms to the skies, 

 The ruins of six centuries." 



MtJNDY'S Nccdwood Forest. 



The following lines are descriptive of Wistman's Wood. See p. 1757. 



" How heavily 

 That old wood sleeps in the sunshine — not a leaf, 

 Is twinkling — not a wing is seen to move 

 Within it ; but below, a mountain stream, 

 Conflicting with the rocks, is ever heard, 

 Cheering the drowsy noon. Thy guardian oaks, 

 My country, are thy boast — a giant race, 

 And undegenerate still ; but of this grove, 

 This pygmy grove, not one has climb'd the air 

 So emulously that its loftiest branch 

 May brush the traveller's brow. The twisted roots 

 Have clasp'd in search of nourishment the rocks, 

 And straggled wide, and pierced the stony soil 

 In vain : denied maternal succour, here 

 A dwarfish race has risen. Round the boughs 

 Hoary and feeble, and around the trunks, 

 With grasp destructive, feeding on the life 

 That lingers yet, the ivy winds, and moss 

 Of growth enormous. E'en the dull vile weed 

 Has fix'd itself upon the very crown 

 Of many an ancient oak ; and thus, refused 

 By nature kindly aid — dishonoured — old — 

 Dreary in aspect — silently decays 

 The lonely wood of Wistman." Carrington's Dartmoor, p. 56. 



Through the kindness of His Grace the Duke of Bedford, we have re- 

 ceived the following additional information respecting this remarkable wood, 

 from Archdeacon Froude, vicar of Darlington, near Totness : — "I have been 

 told that there is an ancient record in the Duchy Office, which probably 

 refers to their existence, not long after the Conquest. On the bottom stock 

 of one of them, cut down partly for the purpose, I counted upwards of 250 

 concentric rings, when the farther evidence of annual formations in the exterior 

 circumference was too indistinct to be noticed. When first felled, the specific 

 gravity of the wood was more like that of tropical than English growth. The 

 extent of Wistman's Wood is about two acres." 



Properties and Uses. In comparing the wood of Q. pedunculata and Q. 



lifldra, the former is found the most easy to split, and the stiffest and the 



easiest to break, and yet the most difficult to bend ; while the latter has the 



advantage over the other in toughness and weight. The following comparative 



view i~> from Qartig, as quoted in the Dictionnairc des Eaux et Forets. 



(i mam vuTta. 



I t,c vonl, vbefl gr< on, weighs 

 _ half-dry 



lb. oz. 



76 16 



65 



62 16 



ry - - 



— |,< rf< ( lly dry - 



• ng properties are, to the 



beech, at - ni'n t., i.vio 



lu beattog prop rtk , i oaapered 



with tboat <>i the Q. MMUifibra, 



;,rc a* - - - - .144011 U) I 107 



IU i li.-irroal i-,, to that Of tlM 



beech, aa 1459 U) to 1600 



<l BEMILIFLO'EA. 



11). oz. 

 80 5 

 67 12 

 51 10 



The wood, when green, weighs 



— half-dry 



— perfectly dry - 

 Its heating properties are, to the 



beech, m - - 14<j7 istoi540 



Its heating properties, compared 

 with those of the Q, peduncu- 

 lata, areas - - - - 1497 is to 1440 



It thm appeaTfl that the wood of both species loses above a third of its 

 tit in drying i hut, ai in the ease of every other wood, that of the oak is 



