APPENDIX 111 277 



yellow to orange brown ; shrinks and checks considerably in 

 drying. Used in cooperage and locally in shipbuilding and in 

 the manufacture of farm implements. A small-sized tree, common 

 in the Ohio and INIississippi valleys, but widely distributed in the 

 eastern United States. 



OAK. — Wood very variable, usually very heavy and hard, very strong and 

 tough, porous, and of coarse texture ; the sapwood whitish, the heart 

 " oak " brown to reddish brown. It shrinks and checks badly, giving 

 trouble in seasoning, but stands well, and is little subject to attacks 

 of insects. Used for many purposes : in shipbuilding, for heavy 

 construction, in common carpentry, in furniture, car, and wagon work, 

 cooperage, turnery, and even in wood carving ; also in the manufacture 

 of all kinds of farm implements, wooden mill machinery, for piles and 

 wharves, railway ties, etc. The oaks are medium- to large-sized trees, 

 forming the predominant part of a large portion of our broad-leaved 

 forests, so that these are generally "oak forests," though they always 

 contain a considerable proportion of other kinds of trees. The wood 

 of three well-marked kinds, white, red, and live oak, are distin- 

 guished and kept separate in the market. Of the two principal kinds 

 white oak is the stronger, tougher, less porous, and more durable. 

 Red oak is usually of coarser texture, more porous, often brittle, less 

 durable, and even more troublesome in seasoning than white oak. In 

 carpentry and furniture work red oak brings about the same price 

 at present as white oak. In the forest the red oaks everywhere 

 accompany the white oaks, and, like the latter, are usually represented 

 by several species in any given locality. Live oak, once largely 

 employed in shipl>uilding, possesses all the good qualities (except tha,t 

 of size) of white oak, even to a greater degree. It is one of the 

 heaviest, hardest, and most durable building timbers of this country; 

 in structure it resembles the red oaks, but is much less porous. 



1. Whitk oak (Quercus alba): Medium- to large-sized tree. Common 



throughoiit the eastern United States. 



2. Bur oak (Quercus marrocarpa) (mossy-cup oak, over-cup oak): 



Locally abundant, common. Bottoms west of Mississippi ; range 

 farther west than preceding. 



