1788

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

and the leaves sit close to the twig, without the intervention of any foot-stalks.” (p. 66.) This was published in 1793, a circumstance which we con-sider worthy of notice, as proving that the superiority of the timber of Q.pedunculata was known to practical men before that period. In 1827, anexperiment was made in the New Forest, Hampshire, with a piece of the bestoak timber grown in the forest that could be procured. It was reduced tothe dimensions of 5 in. square, and 11 ft. long, placed on two firm supports,exactly 11 ft. apart; and it was found that 4J tons 3 qr. 171b. were requiredto break the beam. The experiment was performed in the presence of LordLowther, at that time First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and othergovernment officers; and an account of it was laid before the Royal Institu-tion in June, 1827.

Whatever may have been established theoretically respecting the compara-tive properties of the wood of the two species, yet, practically, they are al-most alike employed both in territorial and naval constructions and machinery.The wood of the oak is more durable, in every state in which it can be placed,than that of any other tree which abounds in large quantities in Europe. It ishard, tough, tolerably flexible, strong, without being too heavy, not easyto splinter, and not readily penetrated by water; and hence its value in ship-building. Some woods are harder, but they are more fragile; and others aremore flexible, but do not possess so much toughness, hardness, and durability.Where the grain is twisted, no timber is so well adapted for posts, either inhouse-building or in setting up mills, engines, or large machines. No woodlasts longer where it is subject to be alternately wet and dry; and oak pileshave been known to endure many centuries. Shingles, pales, and lathslast longer of this wood than of any other; and casks, and every other descrip-tion of cooper’s work, are most durable, and best adapted for containing wines,ales, and other liquors, when they are made of oak. Oak timber is particu-larly esteemed for the spokes of wheels, for which the small slow-growingoak of mountainous districts is greatly preferred to the more rapid-growingand larger oak of the valleys. Oaks of from 15 to 30 years’ growth makethe most durable poles. The young tree, when from 5 ft. to 10 ft. high, makesexcellent hoops, which, Evelyn says, we ought to substitute for those ofhazeland ash, as they are six times more durable : it also makes the very best walk-ingsticks, and very good handles to carters’ whips. Of the roots, Evelyn says,were formerly made hafts to daggers, handles to knives, tobacco-boxes, mathe-matical instruments, tablets for artists to paint on instead of canvass, and elegantcamleted joiners’ work. Oak wood, every one knows, is preferred before allothers for ship-building, in the temperate regions of both hemispheres. TheQ. pedunculata (the chene blanc of the French), from its toughness, does notsplinter when it is struck by a cannon ball, and the hole made by a ball is con-sequently much easier to plug up; but it is said, on the other hand, that thisspecies, when it is grown in good soil, somewhat moist, contains a great deal ofwhite or sap wood, which soon begins to decay, and, proceeding rapidly, ulti-mately destroys the heart wood. ( Nich. Obs., &c., p. 44.) Secondat (Mem, duChene, p. 3.) attributes the property of not splintering, when pierced withbullets, to the wood of Q. sessiliflora; which, he says, the English had a greatdeal of formerly, and valued highly for the construction of ships, and which hedescribes as a tree attaining a prodigious size and height, and only succeedingin good soil : but, as these characters belong more to Q. pedunculata than toQ. sessiliflora, at least according to Willdenow, Bose, and other authors,we conclude that Secondat has here mistaken the name of the kind towhich he has assigned these properties. The best oak for ship purposes,according to Jaume St. Hilaire, is that which is grown in the south ofFrance; and the best ships in the world, he says, are built in Toulon, or inSpain. The worst oak for ship-building, according to this author, is that sentto Britain from Dantzic, and other ports of the Baltic. The bark of bothspecies is indiscriminately used for tanning, though that of Q. sessiliflora is