4 
OAKS. 
Soil, Situation and Climate. The Oaks, to attain their full size, require 
a deep, loamy soil, a situation low, rather than elevated, and a climate 
not liable to late spring frosts, which injure both the blossoms and leaves. 
In elevated situations, or in the extreme north, those species which under 
favourable circumstances, form the most magnificent trees become, as in 
the case of other trees, mere shrubs. The Oaks which flourish on the worst 
soils are the low-growing kinds belonging to the section Ilex, and espe- 
cially those belonging to the group Phellos ; and those which require the 
best soil are, the Quercus sessiliflora, the Q. cerris, and most of the sorts 
composing the American group Rubræ. 
Propagation^ ^c. The Oak is propagated wdth difficulty by every other 
mode except from seed; and generally, time will be gained when the 
acorns are sown where the plants are intended finally to remain. It is only, 
therefore, where peculiar varieties are to be continued, that the process of 
grafting is resorted to ; and the mode by approach is almost the only one 
that is certain to be attended with success. The best stock for grafting on 
is Q. cerris, on which some sorts may be successfully budded. 
The acorns need not be gathered from the tree, but may be collected 
from the ground immediately after they have dropped, and may either be 
sown then, or kept till the following spring. If they are to be kept, they 
should be made perfectly dry in the sun, or in an airy shed, mixed with 
dry sand, in the proportion of three bushels of sand to one of acorns, or 
with dry moss ; and then excluded from the air and vermin, by being put 
into barrels or boxes, or laid up in a cellar, or buried in heaps and cov- 
ered with a sufficient thickness of earth to exclude the wmather. When 
acorns are to be sown in a nursery, the soil ought to be thoroughly pre- 
pared and rendered fine ; and after the earth is drawn off the beds, or the 
drills opened, the acorns may either be scattered over the beds, or along 
the drills, so that the nuts may be about two inches apart. The acorns, 
before covering, must be patted down with a back of a spade in the beds, 
and with the back of a wmoden-headed rake in the drills. The covering, 
of well broken soil, should vary in depth according to the size of the 
acorn, I5 inches being enough for those of the largest size, and half 
an inch for those of the smallest size. No mode of depositing acorns in 
the soil can be worse than that of dropping them in holes made by too 
small a dibble. The acorn drops into the hole, and becomes wedged by 
its sides before it gets to the bottom ; and if the upper extremity should 
be downwards instead of upwards, it can hardly be expected to grow. 
Sown late in March, the period between the depositing the acorn and its 
becoming a plant is lessened, and the danger from destruction by vermin 
somewhat diminished. When it is necessary to remove the plant, the 
tap root should first be shortened ; side pruning is soon necessary, when 
the object is a straight clean trunk. 
