ERRORS IN PROPAGATING OAK. 



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tree which we attempt to cultivate in the wilds and 

 moorlands of our northern clime. That we should, 

 therefore, find it slower and more shy of growth than 

 the ash, the heech, the elm, the Scots fir, or the 

 larch, is a circumstance sufficiently explained hy our 

 mode of treating it. The two last named species are 

 justly deemed the hardiest, and the most easily 

 reared of any we possess ; yet, attempt to transplant 

 them after they are six or seven years old, a period 

 at which their roots become strong, woody, and des- 

 titute of small fibres, and the result will be as dis- 

 couraging as ever was the case in making a planta- 

 tion of oak. Our error has all along been, that we 

 have treated the oak in precisely the same manner 

 as other trees, from which it differs essentially in 

 nature. Let us alter the treatment, so as to make 

 it correspond with this difference, and there is not 

 the slightest doubt, but our attempts to raise in our 

 native woods the true material for building our fleets 

 and navies, will be as encouraging as they have hi- 

 therto proved unsuccessful. 



