119 
Common Oak, and a charcoal of better 
quality, while as fuel it is found to burn 
with fewer sparks. Though the struc- 
ture of the wood is the same in both 
kinds, authorities differ as regards their 
value, and while in general that of 
the Durmast Oak is rather less dense 
and compact, even an expert finds it 
difficult to pronounce with certainty j 
as to the two kinds, which are used j 
quite indiscriminately, their qualities j 
depending less upon any difference of | 
kind than upon the influence of soil 
and conditions of growth. In the main 
ject to decay ; from its later leafing the 
tender shoots are seldom injured by 
frost ; and experienced foresters claim 
that it is less open to the attacks of the 
leaf-roller moth and other insect pests. 
With these points in its favour it would 
appear strange that the Durmast Oak 
has been so little planted as compared 
with the common kind, though in parts 
of the north and west, and particularly 
in the Forest of Dean with its rocky 
subsoil, it is more abundant. But as a 
fact trees are not easy to obtain, for 
whereas most firms offer the two kinds 
Flowers and Acorns 
OF THE Common Oak. 
The Durmast Oak : Flowering and Fruiting Twigs 
AND Acorns. 
the wood of the Durmast Oak — which 
is oftener grown as a high tree — is less 
rigid and tough than that of the Common 
Oak, grown in the plains on fertile soil, 
and as a rule among underwood. On 
the other hand the wood of the Durmast 
Oak is less knotty, is straighter in fibre, 
and truer and softer in grain. Being 
also of lighter colour it is preferred for 
cabinet-work, and as of quicker growth, 
straighter stem, and better adapted for 
growing in close order, it is far more 
profitable for the production of timber. 
While in p^eneral not so 
General Features. , i • i i 
long lived as the great 
Oak of the plains, its trunk is less sub- 
in their trade lists there is hardly a grower 
that ever keeps them apart or can guaran- 
tee a stock in any quantity. The true 
way would be to gather one's own seed 
from selected trees of the Durmast Oak, 
on which the acorns ripen a few weeks 
later than on its rival, and to plant 
suitable land as pure Oak-forest. As 
has been abundantly proved upon the 
continent, conditions would soon tell 
in favour of these young seedlings, their 
thicker and more lasting canopy, quick- 
er and more erect growth, and the richer 
deposit of humus formed beneath them, 
are gains that soon make themselves felt 
in forest growth, and even if injured 
