Every part of the oak tree comes to use. The bark is a more valu able tanning agent than any other known substance ; and even the leaees and the saw-dust contain an astringent principle which is applicable to the same purpose. The Valonia oak of the Archipelago ield, thee* acorns and cups which constitute the valuable tanning ingredient called ralosia. The Dyer's oak is the kind which yields the dye-drug, irrerri'ron bark. It is from a species of oak, the ?Nereus litur, that we obtain that remarkable bark, cork, which is so superior to all other substances for the particular purposes to which it is applied. The scarlet dye, called kerma, is obtained from an insect which feeds upon one particular sort of oak to which it forms a kind of parasite, clinging to the branches. The black-dye drag nut yell is a morbid excrescence, produced by the puncture of a winged insect, in a small species of oak called the ?Nereus infectoria. What is called the oak apple is a somewhat similar excrescence on the British oak, applicable to the same purposes as the nut gall, but not in so great a degree.
The root of the oak was formerly carved into knife and dagger handles, tobacco bozos and small implements and instrumcnte of various kinds. It is now frequently cut into veneers, which present a beautifully diversified surface when polished. Oak leaves, gathered green and dried, furnish in some places a winter forage for sheep, (leer, s.ud goats, In ordinary gardening, they sometimes serve as a substi tute for tanner's bark, in maintaining the heat of hothouees, &c. Tho acorns of the oak are a valuable produce of our forests. Evelyn used to say, that a peck of acorns with a little bran will increase the weight of a hog a pound per day fur two months together • and even if this be a high estimate, it leaves untouched tho truth ;hat acorns form an excellent hog-fodder. Acorns form an important part of the food of deer In many English parks. Poultry will eat acorns, raw or boiled.