22 CALIFORNIA TANBARK OAK. 



TABLE 10. Tannin analyses of bark of the more important forest trees of the Pacific coast. 



POSSIBILITIES OF UTILIZING THE WOOD. 



The tanbark oak peeled since 1850 is equal to more than 2,000,000 

 cords of firewood. But, chiefly on account of the difficulty of trans- 

 portation, little of this amount, perhaps 5 per cent, has been used as 

 fuel. Yet the wood has such particular value for special purposes 

 that it is quoted in San Francisco at from $12 to $18 per cord, a price 

 much higher than that of any other California oak. The wood burns 

 up very completely with little smoke. The United States mint 

 at San Francisco uses it, and there is a steady demand by the bakers 

 of that city. The full possibilities of the wood for lumber can be deter- 

 mined only by experiments in sawing and seasoning and by strength 

 tests, but its availability for some purposes is undoubted. About 

 400,000,000 feet have been utterly lost so far, and about 627,000,000 

 feet are still standing. To utilize the log for lumber, it must be cared 

 for immediately after peeling. Only the redwood logging companies 

 possess facilities for yarding and sawing the tanbark oak; yet since the 

 peeling time comes at the height of their busy season, any proposal 



