monteath's forester's guide. 155 



outer layers or cuticle may lose vitality, and become 

 corky. We have taken down a luxiuriant growing 

 oak, exceeding three feet in diameter, the living bark 

 of whose stem was about two inches in thickness, re- 

 sembling thick plank, and which was considered by 

 the tanners much stronger in quality than bark of 

 younger growth. Has Mr Monteath seen any bark 

 resembling this on 21 4 years old sproutings ? If, by 

 the above quotation, oiu* author means to say, that 

 the valuable part of the bark on the branches of a 

 tree 30 years old, is equal in thickness to that on the 

 same sized branches of a tree at 50, we say he errs 

 still ; that is, provided the older tree be in a healthy 

 thriving condition, and growing equally open and 

 exposed as the younger. Trees, as they increase in 

 years, increase also in the thickness of the living 

 bark, from the root upwards to the smallest twig, 

 provided they have not begun to get dry and sickly 

 from over maturity. When this period arrives, the 

 living part of the bark upon the stem and larger 

 branches becomes very thin, with a great proportion 

 of dead corky substance ; although, on the twigs and 

 smaller branches, it still continues to thicken. The 

 age at which the external part of the bark begins to 

 lose vitality, is considerably dependant upon luxuri- 

 ance of growth, climate, and exposure ; and the pe- 



