1786
ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.
PART III.
TI\e lines from Needwood Forest allude to the Swilcar Oak. (p. 1769.)
First blush the hills with orient light,
And pierce the sable veil of night;
Green bends the waving shade above,
And glittering dew drops gem the grove :
Next shine the shelving lawns around,
Bright threads of silver net the ground;
And down, the entangled brakes among,
The white rill sparkling winds along:
Then as the panting zephyrs breatheThe billowy mist recedes beneath jSlow, as it rolls away, unfoldThe vale’s fresh glories, green and gold ;
Dove laughs, and shakes his tresses bright,
And trails afar a line of light :
High midst the trees, with many a frown,
Huge Swilcar shakes his tresses brown jOutspreads his bare arms to the skies,
The ruins of six centuries.” Mundy’s Needwood Forest.
The following lines are descriptive of Wistman’s Wood. See p. 1757.
<{ How heavily
That old wood sleeps in the sunshine — not a leaf.
Is twinkling — not a wing is seen to moveWithin it j but below, a mountain stream,
Conflicting with the rocks, is ever heard,
Cheering the drowsy noon. Thy guardian oaks,
My country, are thy boast— a giant race,
And undegenerate still; but of this grove,
This pygmy grove, not one has climb’d the airSo emulously that its loftiest branchMay brush the traveller’s brow. The twisted rootsHave clasp’d in search of nourishment the rock6,
And straggled wide, and pierced the stony soilIn vain : denied maternal succour, hereA dwarfish race has risen. Round the boughsHoary and feeble, and around the trunks,
With grasp destructive, feeding on the lifeThat lingers yet, the ivy winds, and mossOf growth enormous. E’en the dull vile weedHas fix’d itself upon the very crownOf many an ancient oak ; and thus, refusedBy nature kindly aid — dishonoured — old —
Dreary in aspect — silently decays
The lonely wood of Wistman.” Carrington’s Dartmoor , p. 56.
Through the kindness of His Grace the Duke of Bedford, we have re-ceived the following additional information respecting this remarkable wood,from Archdeacon Froude, vicar of Darlington, near Totness : — “I have beentold that there is an ancient record in the Duchy Office, which probablyrefers to their existence, not long after the Conquest. On the bottom stockof one of them, cut down partly for the purpose, I counted upwards of 250concentric rings, when the farther evidence of annual formations in the exteriorcircumference was too indistinct to be noticed. When first felled, the specificgravity of the wood was more like that of tropical than English growth. Theextent of Wistman’s Wood is about two acres.”
Properties and Uses. In comparing the wood of Q. pedunculata and Q.sessiliflora, the former is found the most easy to split, and the stiffest and theeasiest to break, and yet the most difficult to bend ; while the latter has theadvantage over the other in toughness and weight. The following comparativeview is from Hartig, as quoted in the Dictionnaire des Faux et Forets.
Q . PEDUNCULARIA.
lb. oz.
The wood, when green, weighs - 76 13
— half-dry - - - 65 9
— perfectly dry - ~ 52 13
Its heating properties are, to the
beech, as .... 1440 is to 1540Its heating properties, comparedwith those of the Q. sessiliflbra,are as - 1440 is to 1497
Its charcoal is, to that of thebeech, as - 1459 is to 1600
Q . sessiuflo'ra.
lb. oz.
The wood, when green, weighs - 80 5
— half-dry 67 12
— perfectly dry - - 51 10
Its heating properties are, to the
beech, as - - 1497 is to 1540
Its heating properties, comparedwith those of the (£. peduncu-l&ta, are as .... 1497 is to 1440
It thus appears that the wood of both species loses above a third of itsweight in drying; but, as in the case of every other wood, that of the oak is