198 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



to cover up the seed. The acorns will 

 thus be thrown into lines and protected 

 from the birds and other creatures dur- 

 ing the winter. They come freely, and, 

 if not severely gnawed by vermin, will 

 be too many, but it is very easy to thin 

 out the weakest. The acorns should be 

 from sound, fair-sized trees — often an 

 easy matter at least in the south, though 

 in the same place we have often found a 

 curious diversity in their size. In districts 

 where rabbits abound it is absolutely 

 necessary to wire, to a height of 31 feet 

 and not more than a couple of acres at a 

 time, as larger areas are difficult to con- 

 trol. If this is not done the little seedling 

 Oaks will be eaten down (the larger Oaks 

 are saved by their astringency)and several 

 years may be lost ; but even then they 

 keep on and in good time get their heads 

 up. There has been much writing as to 

 the superiority of transplanted trees over 

 those raised from acorns, but this is con- 

 trary to all the facts of Nature as seen in 

 every Oak wood, where the trees come 

 so freely from seed. Among the various 

 sound reasons for raising Oak from 

 acorns is its economy and simplicity, 

 and also the fact that in the nursery it is 

 not at all usual to find a good stock of 

 the common Oak. An important point 

 is the renewal of existing woods in which 

 underwood has been grown for gene- 

 rations ; the Oaks scattered through 

 these are occasionally good but are 

 often spoiled by their spreading heads. 

 As underwood has now ceased to be 

 profitable and its cutting is often a nui- 

 sance near the house, it is better to re- 

 plant the wood with Oak, in which case 

 we shall have to use tall saplings. I plant 



saplings of from 8 to 1 2 feet high, and 

 when they come from good forest nur- 

 series I find they succeed, but they 

 must have been moved often enough to 

 secure a fibrous root. The Oak is said to 

 suffer much from transplanting, but this 

 need not be the case if they have been 

 well prepared for it, and I have planted 

 many thousands of saplings with very 

 slight loss. My replanting is done in the 

 hope of getting back to high woods and 

 killing off the underwood eventually. 



It is a popular idea that the 



Growth. _ ! . r r . 



Oak is a slow growing tree, 

 and, perhaps, the sturdy contorted trees 

 one sees in open places to some extent 

 warrant this opinion ; the idea is none 

 the less an error, for the Oak is a rapid 

 grower. Some ten years ago I planted a 

 small field with Pines — the hardiest and 

 most rapid in growth, some of them , like 

 the Corsican Pine, growing 2 feet and 

 even more a year, in favourable spots ; 

 in the soil brought by birds and mice a 

 certain number of acorns came up un- 

 invited, and so far these have kept their 

 heads level with the Pines. Some years 

 ago, too, an interesting calculation was 

 carried out upon my own land on Oaks 

 growing in underwood recording the 

 growth of ten years. It showed a yearly 

 increase of from 5 to 71 per cent. 



It is impossible to enumerate 



Wood. 1 i r , r 



here the vast number or uses 

 to which the wood of the Oak can be 

 put, from shipbuilding to cabinet mak- 

 ing. As fuel it should be more used than 

 it is. According to some books it is less 

 good as fuel than the Beech, but the 

 cordwood cut from Oaks in the spring 

 is excellent for burning. In our country 



