The early snow of last week has mutilated more British
oaks than any storm within the recollection of the present genera- tion. The oaks were generally very full of leaf and very full of acorn, and the heavy weight of snow added to them broke large branches off almost every oak in Windsor Park, as well as many other sorts of trees. in Richmond Park the destruc- tion of oak-branches was almost as great. In neither park are there many oak trees free from serious injury, and though, so far as we know, no trunks were broken, the beauty of a great many magnificent trees is greatly injured or almost gone. One hardly appreciates the strain which leaves and fruit must put on even the strongest forest-trees, till one sees that a little additional white powder thrown into the same scale produces such havoc asthis. In Windsor Park, on Wednesday week, the cracking of the boughs sounded like the volleying of a Volunteer rifle-corps.
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