r6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Chestnut Oak. 



ijncrctis Priuii'i — Liiiii. 



The ilist.vibution of chcstmit oak nuiKi'S 

 h-oni the i-oasl of southein Maine and the 

 nine Hills of eastern Massachusetts south- 

 ward to Delaware and the District of Co- 

 lumbia; along the Appalachian inonntains 

 to northern (teorgia and Alabama; west- 

 ward to the shores of Lake ('ham]ilain and 

 the valley of the Genesee river, 

 N'ew Vork. along the northern 

 shores of Lake Erie and to cen- 

 tral Kentucky and Tennessee. It 

 is rare and local in Xew England 

 and Ontario, but jdentiful on the 

 lianks of the lower Hudson river 

 and on the Appalachian hills from 

 southern New York to Alabama. 



It is known as rock oak in XeW 

 York; as rock chestnut oak in 

 Massachusetts and Rhode Island; 

 as rock oak and rock chestnut oak 

 in Pennsylvania and Delaware; as 

 tan bark oak and swampy chest- 

 nut oak in North Carolina and as 

 rock chestnut oak and mountain 

 oak in Alabama. 



The chestnut oak is a tyiic of a 

 group of wliite oaks whose li>aves 

 are very mmdi like those of the 

 chestnut tree, as may be seen in 

 the accompanying illustration. The 

 leaves are alternate, five to nine 

 inches long, and obovate. with 

 coarse teeth rounded at the to].. 

 At inaturity, they are tliick and 

 lirui .ir subcoriaceous; yellow- 

 yrecn and rather lustrous on the 

 u]i|>er surface, paler and usually 

 pubescent beneath. In the aul- 

 nmu before falling, tlu'y turn a 

 dull orange color or rusty brown. 



The llowers appear in May and 

 are solitary or paired; staminate 

 .yellow; pistillate on short spurs; 

 with short, ilark-red stigmas. The 

 fruit or acorn is solitary or in 

 pairs, one to .two and one-half 

 inches long, very lustrous and of 

 a bright chestnut-brown color. 

 The acorn cup is thin, downy- 

 lined and covered with small 

 tuburcnlar scales. The kernel is 

 sweet and edible. The bark of the 

 chestnut oak is thin, smooth, purj>- 

 lish-brown and often lustrous on 

 young stems and small branches, 

 becoming a thick, dark, 

 brown, or nearly black 

 and divided into broad 

 ridges, separating on the surface into 

 small, closely appressed scales. The bark 

 of the tree is so dark in color and so deep- 

 ly furrowed that it has often been mis- 

 taken for one of the black oak group, al- 

 though its wavj- leaf margins and annual 

 fruit clearly differentiate it from that spe- 

 cies. The bark of the chestnut oak is one 



THIRTY-EIGHTH PAPEB. 



of till' higliest valued tanning materials 

 ami is used extensively in the manufac- 

 ture of high-grade leather. The bark is also 

 incorporated with that of some other varie- 

 ties of oak, hemlock and chestnut wood 

 in the ju'eparation of tannic acid extract. 



The chestnut oak is a vigorous tree ami 

 grows rapidl.N in dry soil, finding its nuist 

 aiiindant growth and l;irg(st sice in the 



reddish 

 on old 



TYI 



trunks, 

 rounded 



ICAL L-OUEST (iltoWTlI ( IIEST^•UT OAK. SWAI 

 COr.NTY. NOItTIT CAKOLIXA. 



lower slopes of the mountains of the Caro- 

 linas and Tennessee, where it often forms 

 a great part of the forest. It is not as 

 large in size as the white oak or red oak, 

 but is a splendid tree, its bole being very 

 symmetrical and holding its size well. It 

 grows usually to a height of from sixty 

 to seventy feet and sometimes 100 feet, 

 with a diameter of from two to five feet 

 and occasionally as large as seven feet. 



In its fiehl growth it Muuetimes splits into 

 two or nuiie larger limbs, fifteen to twenty 

 feet from the groiinil and shows a broad 

 spread of foliage. The wood is heavy, 

 hard, strong, rather tough, close-grained 

 and durable in contact with the soil. In 

 cohu' it is ilark. reddish-brown, with con- 

 spicuous medullary rays. The saj)Vvood, as 

 is the case in most other trees, is much 

 lighter. A cubic foot of the seas- 

 oned wood weighs about forty- 

 si.x pounds. 



From its comparative cheapness 

 and hard, strong and rather tough 

 character, chestnut oak lumber at 

 the present time is attracting the 

 attention of the leading wagon 

 ni.-ikcrs of tlu' country and they 

 are employing it very extensively 

 ill vehicle building. In many re- 

 sjiects it is even better than the 

 highest type of white oak for this 

 purpose, the only drawback to its 

 use being its somewhat refrac- 

 tory character in seasoning. Care 

 must be used in air-drying it, and 

 special caution be taken in dry- 

 kiln operations to avoid season 

 cliecking. 



Chestnut oak has become quite 

 a favorite in the markets of Great 

 Britain and continental Europe 

 for wagon-making purposes and 

 is there classed, as it is in the 

 Ihiiiic trade, as a variety of white 

 'i.ik. It is probable that its use 

 till wagon material will constantly 

 broaden, as it tmdenjably is the 

 best substitute that this country 

 affords for oak used in the eon- 

 Ntruction of wagons, save the very 

 highest type of white oak. 



Some furniture manufacturers 

 are also interesting themselves to 

 a considerable extent in using 

 < he.stnut oak for furniture mak- 

 ing and there is one large con- 

 cern at Connersville, Ind., that 

 employs the wood exclusively in 

 a large line of ehiflfoniers. 



The large remaining area of 

 timber growth in which chestnut 

 oak .-ipjiears is the Appalachian 

 range through eastern Tennessee 

 and western North Carolina, and the 

 f; fact that it is coiiiparatively plenti- 



ful in the forests of the Appalach- 

 ian range will tend to bring it 

 more and more into jirominence as a factor 

 in the building of wagons as the other oaks 

 become scarcer. 



The beautiful specimen of forest growth 

 with which this article is illustrated was 

 photograjihed recently by the editor of the 

 H.\RDW00D Record on Eagle Creek, in Swain 

 county. North Carolina, on the timber hold- 

 ings of the Montvale Lumber Companv of 

 Baltimore, Md. 



