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Show A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. Chap.IIE, j Chap.III. A Difcourfe of Foref-Trees. drefling and due culture 5 fo as above forty years advance is to be gain’d by this only Induftry : And, if thus his A¢cjefties Forefts,and Chafes were ftor'd 5 viz. with this /preading Tree at handfom Inter- CHAP. < Ill : vals, by which Grazing might be improv’d for the feeding of Deer f and Cattel under them,(for fuch was the old Sa/tus) benignly vifited with the gleams of the Suz, and adorn’d withthe diftant Lands hips appearing through the glades,andfrequent Vallies. Of the Oak. LD) Our, the Oak, | have fometimes confider'd it very {erioufly, R what fhould move Plizy to make a whole Chapter of one only Line, whichis lefs then the Argument alone of moft of the reftin his huge Volumn : but the weightinels of the Adatter does worthily excufe him, who is not wont to {pare his Words, or his Reader, Glandiferi maxime generis omnes, quibus hoxos apud Romanos perpetuus. “° Mafi-bearing-trees were principally thofe. which the Ro- “ mansheld in chiefeft repute, lib.6.cap.3,. And in the following where he treats of Chaplets, and the dignity of the Civic Coronet, it might be compos’d of the Leaves or Branches of any Oak, provi- ded it were a bearing Tree, and had 4corus uponit. It is forthe efteem which thefe wife, and gloriouspeople had of this Tree above all others, that I will firft begin with the Oak. 4 ct i t yy f by b5 Carula distingaens inter plaga currere poffet Per tumulos, © convalles, campo(que profufa: ‘Ur nunceffe vides vario ditin®a lepére Diftinguifh’d in a fweet variety 5 Such places which wild Apple-trees throughout Adorn, and happy Shrubs grow all about, Omnia, qua pomis inter(ita dulcibus ornant Arbussifque tenent felicibus obfita circum. Lucret.J.5. As the Poet deferibes his Ofve-groves. Nothing could be more ravifhing 5 for fo we might alfo {prinkle Fruit-trees among{t them (of which hereafter) for Sider, and manyfingular ufes, and fhould find fuch goodly Plantations the boaft of our Rangers, and Forefts infinitely preferrable to any thing we have yet beheld, rude, and negleded as they are: I fay, when his A¢aje/zy thall proceed (as he hath defige’d) to animate this laudable pride into fafhon,Fore/?s and Woods (as wellas Fields and Inclofures) will prefent us with another face thannowtheydo. And here I cannot but applaud the wor- 2. The Oak is of four kinds; two of which are moft common with us 5 (for we fhall fay little of the Cerris, goodly to look on, but thy Induftry of old Sir Harbotle Grimftone, who (1 am told) from being clean, and lighter is fitteft for Timber: And the Robur or cornersof his ground, did draw forth ‘fuch numbersof O2ks ofcompetent growths as being planted about his F#e/ds in even, and uniform rows, about’one hundred foot from the Hedges ; bufh’d, and for little elfe) the Quercus urbana, which grows more up-right,and. Ce betwixt Whole rows the azure Skie isfeen immix’d, With Hillocks, Vales, and Fields, as now wee fee Quercus Sylveftris, (taking Robur for the general name, at leaft, as contradiftiné from the reft) whichis of an hard, black grain, bear- ing a{maller Acorn, andaffecting tofpread in branches, and to put forth his Roots more above ground; and therefore in the planting,to be allow’d a greater diftance; viz. from twenty five, to forty foot (nay fometimes as many yards) whereas the other fhooting up more erect will be contented with fifteen > This kind is farther to be diftinguifh’d by his fullne& of leaves, which tarnifh , and becoming yellowat the fal/, do commonly clothe it all the Winter, the Roots growing very deep and ftragling. The Author of Britannia Baconica {peaks of an Oak, in Lanha- drow Park in Cornwall , which bears conftantly leaves {peckl’d with White; andof another call’d the Painted- Oak, which I only mention here, that the variety may be compar’d by fome ingenious perfon thereabouts, as well as the truth of the fatal pre-admonition of Oaks bearing ftrange leaves. 3. It is inthe meantimethe propagation of this large {preading Oak, which is efpecially recommended for the excellency of the Timber, and that his Majefties Forefts were well and plentifully ftor'd with them 5 becaufe they require room, and {pace to amplifie and expand themfelves, and would therefore be planted at more remote diftances, and free from all encumbrances: And this upon confideration how Slowly a full-grown Oak mounts upwards, and howJpeedily they {pread, and dilate themfelves to all quarters, by drefling avery {mall Nurfery of Acorns, which he fow'd in the neglected well water'd till they had fufficiently fix'd themfelves, did wonderfully improve both the beauty, and the value of his Demeafnes. But I proceed. 4. Both thefe kinds. would be taken up very young, and Tran/planted about Odober ; fome yet for thefe hardy, and late {pringing Trees, defer it till the Winter be well over; but the Earth had need be moyft; and though they will grow tolerably in moft grounds ; yet do they generally affect the found, black, deep and fa/t mould, rather warm than over wet and cold, and Jittle rifing ; forthis producesthe firmeft Tizber ; though my L. Bacoz preter that which growsin the weiter grounds for Ship: timber, as the mott tough, and lefs fubject to rifts but let ushear Plizy. This is a general Rule, Jaith be; “What Trees foever they be which grow tolerably either “on Hills, or Vallies, arife to greater ftature,and {pread more amply “tin the lower ground: But the Timber is far better, and ofa finer ** graiz, which grows upon the Afountains ; excepting only Apple, *‘and Pear.trees. And in the 39 cap. lib. 16. The Timber of thofe ** Trees which grow in mort and shady places is not fo good as * that which comes from amore expos'd fituation, noris it fo clofe, “fubftantial and durable; upon which he muchprefers the Timber growing in Tufeany , before that towards the Venetian fide and upper part of the Gu/ph: And that Timber fo growing wasin greateft efteem long before Plizy, we have the/pear ohdegeenn E 2 nov |