EXTR.ACTS — A R B O K I C U LT U11E. 
471 
A RB O RIC U LT URAL INTELLIGENCE. 
Quality of Oak Timber. —There are only two species of Oak that are con¬ 
sidered natives of Great Britain and Ireland, the Quercns pedunculata, and Q. 
sessilifiora. The former is called by some writers Q. robnr, and by others the latter 
is called by that name. To prevent mistakes, it will be better to adopt the name 
Q. pedunculata. This kind is easily known by the acorns having long stalks, 
and the leaves having very short footstalks, or in some specimens hardly any. 
In the Q. sessilifiora, the leaves have footstalks from a quarter to one inch in 
length, and the acorns sit close to the branch, having hardly any stalks. The 
Q. pedunculata contains a great quantity of the silver grain, which shews, when 
the wood is planed, what workmen call the flower in the wood. In consequence 
of this, the wood splits clean and easy, and is best adapted for split paling and 
laths. It is also a stiffer w-ood, and though it may be broken with a less weight 
than the sessilifiora, yetit requires a much greater weight to bend it, and is there¬ 
fore, best calculated for beams, or to bear the greatest weight without bending. 
The Q. sessilifiora contains so small a portion of silver grain or flower, that wood 
of that kind from old buildings, has generally been mistaken for Sweet Chesnut 
(Castanea Vesca). This was the case with the roof of Westminster Hall, and 
many other old buildings, which favours the supposition, that some centuries ago 
the chief part of the natural woods were of that kind. At present, the greater 
part of the Oak grown in the South of England is the Q. pedunculata. Spe¬ 
cimens procured from different parts of Yorkshire, and the County of Durham, 
have all been Q. sessilifiora, w'hich is very scarce in the south. There are some 
trees of it at Renwood, the Earl of Mansfield’s near High gate, which is one of the 
oldest woods near London, and the greater part of the sessilifiora appear to be 
trees from old stools. Q. sessilifiora appears to grow equally well with peduncu¬ 
lata, it is a more handsome tree in the foliage, and from finding so much of it 
sound in old buildings, it may possibly be more durable. It bends from a weight 
much sooner than the pedunculata, but requires a much greater weight to break 
it; so that from its toughness, it is probably best calculated for ship timber. The 
old Sovereign of the Seas was broken up, after forty-seven years service, much 
longer than the general durability of ships, and as the wood of which the ship 
was built came from the north of England, it is very probable it w r as the sessi- 
liflora. Turkey (Q. Cerris) is a native of the Levant; its introduction into 
England has been within the last century, therefore we have very few trees of 
large dimensions. It is much finer in grain than our British Oak, or foreign 
wainscot; it takes a better polish, and is more beautiful. It appears to be 
equally as strong and much the same in toughness as our native Oak. For all 
ornamental purposes, where the wood has to be polished, it is superior, and must 
be a profitable tree to plant, as it grows quicker than our common oaks, and will 
thrive rapidly in poor land. Oak timber has for a length of time been imported 
into this country from Holland, by the name of Dutch Wainscot, which is gene¬ 
rally used for floors, doors, and furniture : it is more straight in its growth, 
tender, and more easy to work than British Oak. It does not require so much 
seasoning, and stands better without warping, but is not equal in strength or 
durability to British Oak. They are thought to be the same species as ours, but 
coming from a natural wood, and the trees growing close, may account for the. 
