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French , which is nothing so useful, nor comparably so strong; insomuchas I have frequently admired at the sudden failing of most goodly timberto the eye, which, being employed to these uses, does many times mostdangerously fly in sunder, as wanting that native spring and toughnefswhich our English Oak is endued withal. And here we forget not thestrefs which Sir H. Wotton, and other architects, put • even in thevery position of their growth, their native straightnefs and loftinefs forcolumns, supporters, crofs-beams, &c.; and it is found that the rough-grained body of a stubbed Oak is the fittest timber for the case of acyder-mill, and such like engines, as best enduring the unquietnefsof a ponderous rolling-stone. It is good for shingles, pales, laths, coopers’fore were join- ware ’ clap-board for wainscot (the ancient intestina opera *—works withiners called In- doors) and some pannels curiously veined, of much esteem in formerLeg. n » ni Cod e times, till the finer-grained Spanish and Norway timber came amongstus, which is likewise of a whiter colour. There is, in New England ,a certain Red Oak, which, being felled, they season in some moist andmuddy place. This branches into very curious works. It is observedthat Oak will not easily glue to other wood, nor very well with its ownkind; and some woods will never cohere tolerably, as the Box withHornbeam , though both very hard; so, nor Service with Cornell, &c-Oak is excellent for wheel spokes, pins, and pegs for tyling, &c. Mr.Blyth makes spars and small building timber of Oaks of eleven yearsgrowth, which, is a prodigious advance. The smallest and straightestis best, discovered by the upright tenor of the bark, as being the mostproper for cleaving ; the knottiest for water-works, piles, and the like,because it will drive best and last longest; the crooked, yet firm, forknee-timber in shipping, mill-wheels, &cIn a word, how absolutelynegefsary the Oak is above all the trees of the forest in naval architecture,&<;. consult Witsen, lib. i. cap. xiii.
Theodos,
Were planting of this wood more in use, we should banish our hoopsof hazel, &c. for those of good Copse-Oak, which, being made of the
* Every person who can measure timber thinks himself qualified to value standingtree"; but such men are often deceived in their estimates. It is the perfect knowledgeof the application of the different shaped trees that enables a man to be correct in hisvaluation. A foot of wood may be of little value to one trade, but of great valueto another. This is the grand secret which enriches the purchasers of standing timber.