River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-09-01
SLOW GROWTH OF THE OAK.
axty year- Old Before Good Seed Ia Pfol
A<..I..la.. IL a.. Il....a--

| dused-Ac:ivity of the Roots.
The extreme limit of the age of the
yak Is hot exactly known, but sound
living specimens are at least oae thou
and years old. The tree t,rives best
n a deep. tenacious loan with rocks In
t. Stagnant water is one of its aver
sions 1t grows better on a compare
lively poor sandy soil than on rich
ground imperfectly drained. The trunk,
1t first inclined TO be irregular in shape,
itraightens Mt maturity into a grand
cylindrical shaft.
| The oak does not produce good sped
until it is more than sixty years old.
! The acorn Is the fruit of the
oak, the seed-rerm is a very small
object at the pointed end of the acorn.
irops, and its contents doubtless un-
tergo important molecular and chemi-
al changes while it lies under its
winter covering of leaves or snow In
the mild warmth of spring the acorn
swells, the little root elongates. energies
| from the end of the she'll. and. no mat
ter what the position of the acorn,
turns downward. The root penetrates
the soil two or three inches before the
stalk begins to show itself and grow
| upward The ''meat of the acorn
nourishes both root and stalk, and two
years may pass before its store Of food
is entirely exhausted, At the END of a
year the young oak has root twelve to
eighteen inches long, with numerous
shorter rootlets. the stalk being from
six to eight inches high. In this stare
it differs from the sapling, and again
J the sapling differs from the tree. To
watch these transformations under the
lens is fascinating occupation.
IL an oak could be suspended in the
air with all It's roots and rootless per-
feet and uhobscnred the. sight 'y0dld be
ecnsihersd wonderful The activity of
the roots represents great deal of
power. They bore into the soil and
flatten themselves to penetrate crack
in n rock. Invariably the tips turn
away from the light. The growing
point of a tiny outer root is the back of
the tip a small distance. The tip is
driven on by the force behind it and
searches the soil for the easiest points
of entrance. When the tips are de-
stroyed by distractions, cold, heat or
other causes, a new growth starts In
varying directions. The first roots
thieken and bectme girdets TO
support the tree. no t6hgef feed;
ing IL directly, but serving as con
duits for the moisture and nourish-
ment gathered by the othef rootlets,
which are constantly boring their way
into fresh territory. These absorb wa
ter charged with soluble earth, salts,
sulphates, nitrates, phosphates. of lime,
magnesia and potash; etc. which passes
through the larger roots, stem and
branches to the leaves, the laboratory
of new growth. An oak tree may have
seven hundred thousand leaves, and
from June to October evaporates two
hundred and twenty-siN times its own
weight of water. Taking account u
the new woods GROWN, 1--WE obtain
SONS idea Of the enormous gain of mat
ter and energy from the outside uni
verse which goes on each Summer"
0Rk timber is not the heaviest,
toughest nor most beautiful, but it
combines more good qualities than any
other kind. Its fruit is valuable food
and its bark useful in certain industries.
An oak pile submerged for six hundred
and fifty years in London bridge came
up in sound condition, and there Are
| specimens from the Tower of London
which date from the time of William
Rufus. To produce a good oak grove
requires from one hundred and forty to
two hundred wears. 1t seems a long
time to an American, but forestry is a
| perpetual branch of economics when
| once esta blished.-Ohio State Journal.