60 
ACOllN-POISONING. 
botanical description of the different oaks we meet with, are 
of no great importance in connection with the structure and 
quality of the fruit or “ mast,” which is very variable in 
shape and size, but in as far as we can make out pretty much 
alike in their chemical constituents and properties. 
It is said that formerly the oak in Britain was chiefly 
valued on account of its acorns, and the value of land de- 
pended greatly upon the quantity of oak trees, and conse- 
quently oak mast, it would grow. Of late years, however, 
oak mast had scarcely a marketable value, but the seasons of 
drought in 1868 and 1870 has caused them to rise in public 
estimation. In the former of these years we could have pur- 
chased any quantity, and indeed we greedily availed ourselves 
of the opportunity. This year, though we advertised for 
them, we found that no proprietor would spare them, and they 
have been so jealously guarded that the usual “ cadger ” was 
not allowed to gather them. 
As regards their value, our experience in 1868 afforded 
conclusive evidence. We then used them for all kinds of 
stock, but especially with pigs, and found them not only 
harmless but profitable. 
We, however, find from experience that these, and indeed 
all kinds of fresh food, require, in the language of the Dorset- 
shire shepherd, guiding. A little should be given at first, 
but, however much, it should be given. Upon this point it 
will, perhaps, not be out of place to give an account of a visit 
to a neighbour. 
Nov. 7, 1870. — Visited a farm in the neighbourhood of 
Yeovil, to inquire what was done with the quantity of oak 
mast grown during the past dry summer, of which they have 
always a large crop in hot dry summers. This farm is mostly 
in pasture, and the hedge-rows of the small fields and the 
fields themselves are thickly studded with fine trees of the 
common oak, Quercus robur pedunculata ; the consequence is 
that this year, as it was in 1868, a great quantity of oak mast 
has been produced. On inquiries as to how it was utilised, 
we found that it was carefully gathered and stored in different 
buildings, and the mast was given in varied proportions to 
all kinds of animals, to sheep, horses, cattle, and pigs, for all 
of which a portion of bran was given with each feed of acorns. 
This bran must be considered as being used with great 
judgment, as its laxative effects, no doubt, counteract the 
astringent properties of the gallic and tannic acids contained 
in the acorns. The astringency of acorns, indeed, is so well 
known that old women are in the habit of giving a grated 
acorn as a remedy for diarrhoea. 
