42 
BEAR OAK. 
Southern States ; it is common in those of the North, and still more so, I 
believe, in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I have more par- 
ticularly observed it at Fishkill, Katskill and Albany in New York, near 
Paramus in New Jersey, and on that part of the Alleghanies in Pennsyl- 
vania, which is crossed by the road to Pittsburg. It is never found insu- 
lated nor mingled with other shrubs in the forests, but always in tracts of 
several hundred acres, which it covers almost exclusively ; a few stocks of 
the Dwarf Chesnut Oak are often united with it. 
The ordinary height of the Bear Oak is 3 or 4 feet ; but when acci- 
dentally insulated, and nourished by a vein of more fertile soil, it sometimes 
equals 8 or 10 feet. It usually grows in compact masses, which are tra- 
versed with diiBculty, though no higher than the waist. As the individuals 
W'hich compose them are of a uniform height, they form so even a surface 
that at a distance the ground appears to be covered with grass instead of 
shrubs. 
The trunk, which is numerously ramified, is covered, like the branches, 
with a polished bark. It has more strength than would be supposed from 
its size, which is rarely more than an inch in diameter. The leaves are of 
a dark green on the upper surface, whitish beneath, and regularly divided 
into 3 or 5 lobes. The acorns are small, blackish, and longitudinally 
marked with a few reddish lines : they are so abundant as sometimes to 
cover the branches ; the lowly stature of the shrub renders it easy for bears, 
deer and swine to reach them by lifting their heads or rising on their 
hind feet. 
The presence of this Oak is considered as an infallible index of a barren 
soil, and it is usually found on dry sandy land mingled with gravel. It is 
too small to be adapted to any use ; but near Goshen, on the road to New 
York, I observed an attempt to turn it to advantage, by planting it about 
the fields for the purpose of strengthening the fences. Though this exper- 
iment seemed to have failed, I believe the Bear Oak might be usefully 
adopted in the Northern States for hedges, which might be formed from 
20 to 24 inches thick, by sowing the acorns in three parallel furrows. 
They would be perfected in a short time, would be agreeable to the eye, 
and probably would be sufficient to prevent the passage of horses and cows. 
Hedges of the European thorn would doubtless be preferable ; but they 
require a good soil and more labour than can at present be afforded in 
America : those that exist in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia are left in 
a condition which would give a very unfavourable opinion of the farmer on 
whose lands they were seen in the North of France. 
As the Bear Oak grows on the most sterile soils, and resists the 
most intense cold and impetuous winds, perhaps it might serve to shel- 
ter the infancy of other more valuable trees in such exposures. The 
want of some such protection is the greatest obstacle to the success of 
