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FORESTRY BRANCH BULLETIN No. '63 



TABLE XI OAK 



*Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 



The province of Quebec supplied in 1915 only 677,000 feet board measure 

 of oak, while its manufacturers required a supply of 4,144,000 feet. The 

 production is equal only to 16 per cent of the consumption. The bulk of the 

 oak wood is purchased from the United States, to the extent of 82 per cent of the 

 total. Ontario supplies a small quantity, equal to 1 per cent of the total quantity 

 used. There is a larger importation of oak into Quebec than of any other 

 hardwood. It is reported as being used by eleven industries. In quantity 

 it does not lead in any of them, while in value it leads in one. 



The price paid for oak ranges from $32.38 to $85 per thousand feet board 

 measure, its total value being $160,402. 



The supply of native oak is rapidly decreasing in Canada. In New Bruns- 

 wick it is commercially exhausted. In Quebec and Ontario the supply is confined 

 to small groups or isolated trees in farmers' woodlots. It is much scarcer in 

 Quebec than it is in Ontario, the quantity in Quebec having always been less. 



The species of oak native to the province are red oak (Quercus rubra), 

 white oak (Quercus alba), and bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa}. In trade this last 

 species is not differentiated from the white oak. Red oak is the most common 

 in Canada. The imported oak wood comprises chiefly the three species 

 mentioned above. The superior qualities of oak material are well known to the 

 manufacturers of the different classes of goods. White oak is generally superior 

 to red oak. It is heavier, stronger, harder, tougher, more durable, and easier 

 to season. The grain of the wood is finer and more even, the appearance of the 

 medullary rays, which gives so much value to quarter-cut oak, is more striking 

 and attractive. But the main reason of the superiority of white oak over red 

 oak wood is its density, stiffness, and strength. Red oak wood is more easily 

 worked or tooled. 



