HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



trees as the southern red oak, Quercv.s Texana, a species which in the 

 most favorable conditions of growth is deemed to possess qualities 

 equal to if not surpassing those of the true red oak, Quercus rubra. 

 This tree with a few other inferior species, such as turkey and Span- 

 ish oak, forms the group of merchautable red oaks of the lower 

 Mississippi valley. So great, however, is the superiority of Quercus 

 Texana over the closely associated species that it alone has come to 

 be recognized as the source of production of red oak lumber. In 

 fact, it probably represeut.s the largest stand and the principal source 

 "f the oak lumber of the future. 



A moist rich soil is necessary to its most perfect development, and 

 under these conditions it attains great size and massiveness of bole. 

 It is usually found on what are called second bottoms, or those sec- 

 tiors along the river banks between the rises and swamps. Here it is 

 usually found with red and black gum, white and red elm, white and 

 caue ash, Cottonwood and hackberry, and is readily distinguished on 

 account of its unusual proportions, and the light reddish-brown bark 

 with broad ridges broken into thick, square plates. "While taken as a 

 whole Quercus Texana does not attain more than average proportions, 

 specimens have been found along the Mississippi more than two hun- 

 dred feet high and with a diameter around eight or nine feet, a broad 

 buttressed base giving to it greater stability. 



Owing to the extremely rapid growth the texture of the wood is 

 coarser than the lumber of the true red oak of the North. As in the 

 case of the cow oak, the peculiar conditions of growth render the 

 pores large and the rings from year to year rather wide. In other 

 sections the qualities of the timber in every way equal those of 

 Quercus rubra, and in some sections the timber is of superior qual 

 ities. In sawing the logs are usually cut to the full diameter and 

 produce remarkably wide, clear boards, running to a good percentage 

 of Firsts and Seconds. While there is a good deal of quarter-sawed 

 stock produced, the large percentage is plain-sawed, in which case 

 tlie wide annual rings produce an imusually attractive appearance. 

 The reason for curtailing the quarter-sawed cut is because of the 

 short medullary rays, which' gives the surface a rather spotted ap- 

 pearance. The unusual physical qualities and high grade of lumber 

 produced from the southern red oak render it most popular as an 

 interior finish wood and for the manufacture of furniture; in fact, 

 for all the uses to which red oak in general can be applied. It pos- 

 sesses a great durability and strength and owing to its hardness 

 will take an excellent finish. 



Red Gum 



This common species of the South, botauically called Liquidambar 

 styracijlua, which for so long was considered a despised wood, has 

 through a diligent campaign among the various lines of consumers 

 attained a popularity which places it among the best sellers on the 

 general market at the present time. The great boom has tended to 

 convey an impression that the supply of this wood exists in an in- 

 exhaustible quantity, which, however, is not the case. The principal 

 stands exist in lower Mississippi, though it is found in various 

 other states as far east as North CaroUna and west into Texas. 

 It is probably a fact that the total stand represents a cut of about 

 11,000,000,000 feet. 



The tree in itself is an unique figure in the forest landscape cov- 

 ered as it is with a thick, corky-winged bark on the limbs, and on the 

 trunks with a very much broken coating. It is not unusual to lind 

 the wings on the lateral branches obtaining a breadth of two or three 

 inches and as much as an inch thick. The general outline of the tree 

 is pleasing to the eye, its great trunk terminating in a pyramidal 

 head of slender branches and twigs. The red gum is, under best 

 conditions, one of the giants of the forests, and very often attains 

 a height of as much as one hundred and fifty feet, being four 

 or five feet through. It is only in the southland, however, that it 

 attains these dimensions, growing in that region on rich, bottom- 

 lands, which are usually inundated every year. The northern growth 

 is much smaller in dimensions. Aside from the commercial value of 

 the tree, it deserves mention for the unsurpassed brilliancy of the 

 autumn colors attained by the star-shaped leaves. In fact, so beauti- 



Tlli: Of EED OAK GROWTH OF MEMPUIS DISTIilCT 



