196 CULTUllE AND MANAGEMENT OF OAK. 



ages to confute those who libel our soil by pretend- 

 ing that the monarch of the wood disdains to grow 

 in it. 



But it is not only the number of these remains 

 which deserves our attention ; we ave also concerned 

 with tlie nature of the situations in which they are 

 found. And here we have a complete answer to 

 these who tell us, " that if oak ever flourished in 

 this country, it was only on such land as has long 

 since been reclaimed by the plough, and appropri- 

 ated to agriculture. Were this true, our peat-mosses 

 would occupy places very different from those they 

 actually do occupy. We should find them situated 

 in the midst of rich pastures, and luxuriant corn 

 fields ; and on penetrating to the subsoil, it would 

 present us with such appearances as indicate exube- 

 rant fertility. Now every one knows that the truth 

 is the very reverse of all this. We meet with these 

 mosses, generally, in bleak and barren spots, from 

 which cultivation has always kept a respectful dis- 

 tance. Sometimes they are situated on the flat tops 

 of hills, considerably elevated, sometimes at the foot 

 of mountains, where they are the sink of the 

 water that runs from the contiguous eminences. 

 Again, when we examine their subsoil, we never find 

 it better, frequently worse, than that of the neigh- 



