Oaks 



FIG. 56. Leaves and acorns of the red oak (C) and of the pin oak 

 (D). The lobes in the leaves of the red oak point forward. In its 

 near relative, the black oak, they point to the side. 



pith rays that give many of the boards a mottled appear- 

 ance, and many of the species are very durable. For 

 fuel how does oak compare with other kinds of wood? 

 What properties of oak adapt it for floors ? for the mak- 

 ing of furniture? of wagons? of ships? What other 

 things are made from it? Why? Verify by actual 

 test all the properties of oak that you have named. 



Galls. On some oak leaves and branches you will 

 find peculiar growths which you might suppose to be 

 fruits, if you did not know that the fruit of the oak is 

 an acorn. These peculiar growths are galls. Some 

 twenty-five kinds of galls have been found on white 

 oaks alone. Open a gall and look for a tiny, wormlike 

 creature. It is not a real worm, for, if you had not dis- 

 turbed it, it would in time have developed into a fly. 

 Indeed, it came from an egg laid by a fly and is the 

 maggot of the fly. Like the caterpillar and grub, it 



