II. 1. THE WHITE OAK. 129 



in the early stages of its growth ; and it every where seems to 

 shrink from the sea breeze. 



The wood of the white oak unites the properties of hardness, 

 toughness, and durability, in a greater degree than any other 

 native wood. It is of a reddish hue, and is very heavy, com- 

 pact and close-grained. The interval between the circles of 

 growth, is, however, porous, the pores sprinkled with brilliant, 

 resinous-looking points. The plates of silver grain, radiating 

 from the pith, are thicker and more remote from each other 

 than in most woods, and are at very unequal distances. As in 

 the other oaks, they are somewhat sinuous. They are not so 

 thick as those of the live oak, but more so than those of the 

 black. Its specific gravity, according to Bull, is to that of shell- 

 bark hickory, as .855 to 1. 



On account of its uses, the white oak is the most valuable of 

 our trees. It is applied to almost every purpose. It furnishes 

 the best ship-timber. It is preferred for the upper and lower 

 floor timbers, for keel, kelson, stem and stern posts and timbers, 

 for lower deck beams, for out-board planks, and for clamps, or 

 the thick stringers on the inside, on which the beams rest. By 

 some it is preferred to locust for treenails. 



Carriage and wagon builders use scarcely any thing else for 

 the spokes of wheels. The carriage makers of Boston get it 

 from the towns in the vicinity. It is also used for the fellies 

 and axles, and sometimes for the hubs of wheels, but not in 

 preference to all other materials, and for the frames and runners 

 of sleighs. The ribs, knees, gunwale and ribbons, and the 

 chalks and top chalks of whale-boats are of white oak. Many 

 agricultural instruments are made of it. The mould-boards and 

 handles of ploughs, and often axe-helves ; the body, frames, 

 tongues, and axles of carts. 



It is preferred to every other wood, except pitch pine, for 

 pumps. It is used for the very best casks, those intended to 

 contain water, provisions, and all penetrating liquors, and for 

 these purposes it is imported into Boston from Mobile, New 

 Orleans, and other southern ports. It makes the best hoops, 

 with the exception, perhaps, of hickory ; both which must be 

 wrought while in a green state. 

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