The Oak. 



of November they should be put into a nursery, in rows at 

 eighteen inches apart, and at about eight inches apart in 

 the row, the work being done in the same manner as 

 directed for the Ash, in paragraph 120, 121, and 122. But 

 very great care must be taken, with regard to the roots. 

 The Oak sends down a tap-root, hke the Hickory, but not 

 so long. Tiiis tap-root has a few feeble fibres hanging to 

 the sides of it. It is next to impossible to jjut this root at 

 full length, straight down into the ground ; and if you 

 were to do it, it would be of no use, for the fine point of 

 the root would be sure to die. You must, therefore, cut 

 off this tap-root with a sloping cut by a sharp knife, so as 

 so make the root six inches in length, from the point, where> 

 before its removal, it touched the surface of the ground. A 

 new tap-root will come, in somewhat the same way that a 

 new shoot will come from the cutting down of a young tree 5 

 but side-shoots will also come out of the root which you 

 will put into the ground ; and these will make the tree 

 more fit for removal into plantations. 



427. lu this nursery the trees ought to stand for two 

 years, or perhaps for three ; because the Oak requires more 

 time than trees in general to regain its roots. You will, as 

 in the case of the Ash and all other trees, sort or size the 

 plants before you put them into the nursery; and the 

 largest size may be fit for plantations a year sooner, or per- 

 haps two years sooner, than those of the smallest size. 



428. While standing in the nursery, the side-shoots should 

 be pruned off, in such manner as to keep the plants from 

 getting too large a head ; for that large head prevents the 

 stem from becoming stout; and it is stoutness in the stem 

 that is wanted. As to the shape which the young trees take, 

 that is not of much consequence; for, after being planted 



