The Oak. 



to breaks than a knee of the same bulk, made even of 

 Swedish iron, not to think of the rubbishy stuff, half sand 

 and half ore, of which cast-iron things are composed. But 

 the Live Oak is a spreading- tree, though low of stature 

 compared with Elms and with other Oaks : it spreads 

 about its head to a very considerable extent, and you do 

 not want it with a straight and long trunk ; you want it for 

 the knees, and for other purposes where short lengths are 

 sufficient ; and therefore it ought to have room, and ought, 

 indeed, to be planted in distances of twenty-five feet, in the 

 same manner as 1 have suggested the propriety of making 

 a plantation with the Common O.vk. And here 1 beg to 

 refer the reader to what I said, a little way back, upon that 

 subject. 



452. If the coppice were to consist of Birch, instead of 

 Hazel, it might in this case be as well ; for the Birch 

 would push up faster than the Hazel, and would not throw 

 out such a very great number of shoots from each stem. If 

 the plantation be for ornament as well as for use, it is likely 

 that the coppice would not be thought of ; and then all 

 that would be required would be an effectual fence, and 

 constantly clean land. After the plants attain the height of 

 seven or eight feet, a pruning of the lower side-shoots might 

 take place, and this pruning might be continued until you 

 had got a clear trunk from twelve to twenty feet high : then 

 the head ought to be left to form itself into limbs, and those 

 limbs to form themselves into knees, 



453. The bark of the Live Oak is never heard of in 

 tanning, and therefore the tree is always cut when the sap 

 is down. The bark seems to be, indeed, nearly as hard 

 as the wood itself for you frequently see it on the edges 



