CHAP. CV.

coryla'ce^;. que'rcus.

1809

and Forests, that the plan was merely a scheme of Mr. Billington’s, carriedinto execution on a limited scale, in the way of experiment.

Matthew says, “ The easiest way to procure good oak knees is to look outin hedgerow and open forest for plants which divide into two or four leaders,from 5ft. to 10ft. above ground; and, should the leaders not diverge suf-ficiently, to train them as horizontally as possible for several feet, by rodsstretching across the top, or by fixing them down by stakes.” {On NavalTimber, &c., p. 26.)

That timber trees should be trained according to the kind of timber whichit is desirable that they ought to produce, is as correct, as a general principle,as that the different kinds of fruit trees ought to be trained in a manner themost suitable for producing their respective kinds of fruit; but the subject oftraining forest trees is as yet in its infancy, and the circumstance that iron andother metals can be substituted for crooked pieces, as Mr. Snodgrass, SirRobert Seppings, and others have shown, is at present rather against the pro-gress of this department of the forester’s art.

The Age at which Oak Timber ought to be felled, with a View to Profit,must depend on the soil and climate in which the tree is grown, as well as onother circumstances. Whenever the tree lias arrived at that period of itsgrowth, that the annual increase does not amount in value to the marketableinterest of the money which, at the time, the tree would produce if cutdown, then it would appear more profitable to cut it down than to let it stand.Perhaps it would not be difficult to construct a table, to show the proportionbetween the annual increase of the trunk at a certain distance from the ground,and the annual amount of timber added to the tree; and, the price of timberand bark being known, a calculation might thus readily be made of the totalvalue of the tree, and the total value of the annual increase. We are notaware, however, that any such table has been calculated; but the idea of itmay be useful to proprietors of trees, with a view to felling them. A writer inthe Gardener’s Magazine states that Mr. Larkin, an eminent purveyor oftimber for ship-building, stated, when examined before the East India ShippingCommittee, that, in situations the most favourable for ship timber (the Wealdof Kent, for example), the most profitable time to cut oak was at 90 yearsold; as, though the largest scantlings were produced at ISO years’ growth, theincrease in the 40 additional years did not pay 2 per cent. ( Gard. Mag.,vol. xi. p. 690.) In Lord Melville’s Letter to Spencer Perceval, Esq., when thelatter was prime minister, he says that, “ for naval purposes, oak trees requireto be from 80 to 150 years of age, according to the quality of the soil in whichthey are grown.” {Letter, &c., p. 3.) The Rev.W.T. Bree observes that, as theoak, like all other trees, varies exceedingly in its growth, according to soil andsituation, &c., no one fixed period can be given for cutting it down, applicableto all, or even to the generality of cases. A practised eye, he says, will be ablereadily to decide when a tree is ripe for the axe. “ There will no longer be anyvigorous shoots in the extremities of the branches; but, instead of this, a curlingor crinkling of the spray, with scarcely any perceptible growth : dead branchesor small ones will occasionally be seen towards the top; and, above all, thebark will cease to expand, and, of course, will no longer exhibit those lightred or yellow perpendicular streaks in its crevices, which are a certainproof of its expansion, and of the consequent growth of the wood beneath.”As to the question at what age oaks should be cut down, so as to make thebest return in point of profit, this will depend mainly on the demand for oaktimber of this or that particular size and quality in each neighbourhood.{Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 550.)

Felling the Oak for Timber. On account of the great value of oak bark, theoperation of felling is generally performed in spring, when the sap is up, inorder to admit of the bark being readily separated from the wood. It iscommonly alleged, that felling, at this season, must be highly injurious to thetimber; but, when it is considered that the sap ascends only in the soft, or out-side, wood, and that it may be evaporated from it by sufficient exposure to the

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