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Show A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. Chap. III. 17. To epumerate nowthe incomparable Ues of this Wood, were needlefle: But fe precious was the efteem of it, that of old there was an exprefs Lam amongft the Twelve Tables colcerning the very gathering of the 4corms.though they fhould be foundfallen into another mansGround : The Lanvdand the Sea do fufliciently {peak for the improvement of this excellent material 5 Hon es, and Ships, Citiessand Navies are built with it; and there is a kind of it fo tough, and extreamly compact , that our tharpett Tools will hardly enterit, and fcarcely the very Fire it felf » In whichit con- fumes but {lowly , as feeming to partake of a Serruginows » and mettallin {hining nature,proper for fundry robuft Ufes ; It is doubr- leffe of all Tévber hitherto known, the moft univerfally ufefull and {trong ; for though fome Trees be harder, as Box, Cornus , Ebony, and divers of the Indian Woods 5 yet we find them more fragil,arid not fo well qualified to fupport great Incumbencies and weights, nor is there any Timber more /a/ting which way foever us’d: There has (we know) beenno little ftir amonpft Learned men of what material the Croff was made,on whichour blefléd Saviour fuffer’d : The contentions about it are very great: but, be- fides Lipfiusy Angelus Rocca, Alphonfis Ciaconus, and divers others, writing on this fubjeCt, and upon accurate examination of the many fragments pretended to be parcells of it 5 ’tis generally conchuded to have been the Oak ,andI doverilybelieve it; fince thofe who have defcribed thole Coumtries,affare us there is no Tree more frequent, whichwith relation to feverall celebrations and Adyfieries under Oaks inthe Old Teflament, has beenthe fubject of many fine difcourfes, That which is twin'd, anda little wreathed (eafily to be difcern’d by the texture of the Bark) is beft to fupport Burthens, for Pofts, Columns, Summers, &c. forall which our Exglifh Oak isinfinitely preferrableto the French, which is nothing fo ful, nor comparablyfo frrong 5 infomuch as I have frequently u/eadmir'd at the fudden failing of moft goodly Timber to the Eye, which being imploy’d to thefe Us does many times moft dangerouflyfliein funder, as wanting that native /prixg, and toughneff, which ourEnglifh Oakisindu'd withall. And here we forget not the ftrefle which Sir H. Wotton and other Architects put very pofition oftheir growth,their native ftreightnefleevenin the and loftinefle,for Columns, Supporters,Crof-beams, &c. and ’tisfound that the rough grain’d bodyof a _fiubbed Oak, is the fitteft Timber for the Cafe of a Sider-il, and fuch like Engines, as beft enduring the unquietnefle of a ponderous Rolling-ftone. For Shingies, Pales Lathes, Coopers ware , Clap-board for Wainfcot, and fome pannells, are curloufly vein'd, of much efteem in former times, till the finer grain’d Norway Timbercame amongit us, which is likewife of a whiter colour: It is obferv'’dthat Oak will not eafily give to other Woods no not very well withits own kind 5 and {ome forts will never cohere tolerably , asthe Boxand Horn-beam, though both Oak is excellent for Wheel-fpokes, Pinus and Peggs for Tyling.&c. Mr. Blith makes hard woods; {0 nor Service with Cornell, &c. as Spa Sparrs, Chap.II. A Difcourfe of Forelt-Trees; Sparrs and {mall building-Timber of O«ks. of eleven years growth , whichis a prodigious advance, @c. the {malleft and {treighteft beft; difcover’d by the upright tezor of the Bark, as being is the moft properfor cleaving: The Aunottieft for Water-works , Piles and the like; becaufe twill drive beft, and Jaftlongeft, the crooke d, yet firm,for Avee-timber in Shipping, Adill-wheels, &c.. Were planting of thefe Woods morein ufe,we fhould banifh our hoops of Hafél, o«. for thofe of good coppet Oak, which being made of the younger shoots, are exceeding tough and ftrong: Oxe of them being of GroundOak will out-laft fe of the beft 4 ; but this our Coopers love not to hear of, who work bythe grea¢ for Sale,and for others, The fmaller trunchions, and fpray, make Billet, Bavine and Coals andthe Bark is of price with the Tamer and Dyer, to whom the very Saw-duft is of ufe, as are the Afbes and Lee to cure the roapifp- nes of Wine: And’tis probable the Cups of our Acorns would taz Leather as well asthe Bark, The Ground. Oak while youngis us‘d for Poles, Cudgels and walking-ftaffs, much comeinto mode of Jate, butto the maf? of many a hopeful! P/axt which might have prov’d good Timbers and I the rather declaime againft the Cuftom, becaufe 1 fufpect they are fuchas are for the moft part cut and ffolen by idle Perfons, and brought up to Londox in great bundles, without the knowledg or leave of the Owners,who would neverhave glean‘d their Cop/és for fuch trifling ufes: Here I am again to givea general notice of the peculiar excellency of the Roots of moft Trees;torfair, beautifull , chamleted, and lafting Tizeber , applicable to many purpofes; fuch as formerly made Hafts for Daggers, Hangers, Knives, Handlesfor flaves, Tobacco-Boxe s,and. elegant Joyners-work, and even for fome ALathematical Infiruments of the larger fize , tobe had either in, or neer the Roots of many Trees ; however tis a kindneffe to premonifh Stewards and Surveyors, that they do not negligently waft thofe waterials « Nor may we here omit to mention the Galls, Adis/letoe, Poljpod, Agaric (us’d in Aatidots) Vue, Fuxgussto make Tinder, and many other ufefull Excrefcencies,ta the number ofabove twenty, which doubt= lefle difcovers the variety of tranfudations , percolations and contextures of this admirable Tree. Pliny aflirms that the Gal/s break out altogether in one wight about the beginning of Fue, and Arrivetotheir full growth in one daysthis I recommendto the experience of fome extraordinaryvigilant Wood-man. Galls are of feveral kinds, but grow upona different fpecies ofRobur from any of ours, which never arive to any maturity; the white and tmperforated are thebeft, What benefit the AZ? does univerfally yield for the fatting of Hogs and Deer! fhall thew upon another occafion, before the conclufion of this Difcourfe. A Peck of Acornsa day, witha little Braz, will make an Hog (tis faid) increafe a pound. weight per diemfor two moneths together. They give them alfo to Oxex mingled with Braz, chop’d or broken; otherwife they are apt to {prout andgrowin their bellies. Others fay, they fhould firft be macerated in water, to extract their malignity 5 cattel many times |