OF rOREST-TREES. 



67 



CHAPTER III. 

 THE OAK\ 



1. RoBUR, the OAK. I have sometimes considered it very seriously, cHAP. III. 

 what should move Pliny to make a whole chapter of one only line, which '^■^^V^-^ 

 is less than the argument alone of most of the rest in his huge volume ; 

 but the weightiness of the matter does worthily excuse him, who is not 

 wont to spare his words or his reader. Glandiferi inaocime generis omnes 

 quibus honos apud Bomanos perpetuus. " Mast-bearing trees were princi- 



"Of all the trees of the forest, the OAK demands our first attention, whether we 

 consider the dignity of its station, or the variety of uses to which it is applied. Being a 

 native of our island, it adapts itself in a wonderful manner to almost every soil ; and, if 

 well defended in its infancy, there are few places in which it will not grow to a national 

 advantage. This tree naturally delights in a rich, deep, and loamy soil ; but lands of that 

 quahty are now more profitably employed in pasture and tillage. However, there are 

 large portions of land in this kingdom which yield but a small profit to the owners. Such 

 wastes, if situated near rivers, or navigable canals, are nobly calculated for raising Oaks, 

 which, at some distant period, may launch themselves into the Ocean, Guardians of 

 Liberty and Commerce. 



Dr. Martyn, in his beautiful edition of Mr. Miller's Dictionary, enumerates twenty-six 

 species of Oak, but I shall only mention fourteen, of which number nine are deciduous and 

 five evergreen. 



1. QUERCUS (^ROBiTR^ foliis deciduis oblongis superne latioribus, sinubus acutioribus: 

 angulis obtusis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 1414. OaJc with oblong deciduous leaves, broader toward 

 the top, having acute indentures, with obtuse angles. The common oak. 

 This is the Common English Oak, which, for ship-building and other economical uses, far 

 excels all the kinds in the known world. The following is a variety, but Mr. Miller con- 

 siders it as a distinct species under the title of 



QUERCUS C fceminaJ foliis deciduis oblongis obtusis, pinnato-sinuatis petiolis brevissimis, 

 pedunculis glandorum longissimis. Oak with oblong, obtuse, deciduous leaves, which are 

 winged, sinuated, and have very short foot-stalks, with the fouit growing upon long foot-stalks. 

 The female oak. 



Mr. Miller observes, that this sort is not so common as the first ; and he informs us, that in the 

 Wilds of Kent and Sussex there may be seen many large trees of this kind. According to 

 liim, the leaves are not so deeply sinuated as those of the common Oak, nor are they so irre- 

 gular, the indentures being opposite, like the lobes of winged leaves ; these have scarce any 

 foot-stalks, but sit close to the branches ; the acorns stand upon very long foot-stalks. The 

 timber of this kind is accounted, by some, better than that of the first ; and the trees, when 

 growing, having a more lofty appearance. 



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