PART II. UTILIZATION OF THE WOOD OF TANBARK OAK, 



By H. S. BETTS. 

 TANBARK-OAK LUMBER, v 



While the wood of tanbark oak is sometimes used for fuel, it is 

 more generally burned in the redwood logging operations, or left to 

 rot in the woods. The object of this study is to bring to the atten- 

 tion of west coast hardwood users and the owners of tanbark-oak 

 stumpage the possibility of using tanbark-oak lumber. 



The largest part of the hardwoods used on the Pacific coast is 

 imported from the eastern part of the United States. From 1899 to 

 1906 there was an increase in the price of hardwoods in the East of 

 from 25 to 65 per cent. These conditions have been reflected in the 

 western hardwood markets. Not only are the prices of most kinds 

 of hardwood going up rapidly, but in some cases certain species are 

 difficult to obtain at any price. This scarcity is due not to any local 

 condition, but to the general shortage of hardwood timber. The 

 high price is due to the eastern market price, to which must be added 

 about 85 cents per hundredweight in freight charges, or an advance 

 of from $24 to $36 or even $40 per thousand board feet. 



Yet tanbark oak furnishes a fair quantity of good material. For 

 instance,, the average yield of bark is from 1J to 2^ cords per acre. 

 If, as seems reasonable, there are 800 feet board measure of lumber 

 for every cord of bark, the yield in lumber would be from 1,000 to 

 1,760 feet board measure per acre. Exceptionally fine stands yield 

 as high as 8 cords of bark to the acre, which would mean 6,400 board 

 feet of lumber. 



APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOOD. 



The wood of tanbark oak, like that of other oaks, is porous and 

 has the characteristic strongly marked medullary rays. In color it 

 is light brown, faintly tinged with red. When the wood is first cut 

 the sap wood is somewhat lighter in color than the heartwood, but 

 after a few weeks' exposure to the air the two become very similar 

 in appearance. 



Exact knowledge of the rate of growth of tanbark oak is very 

 limited. Seven forest-grown trees near Sherwood, Cal., showed varia- 

 tions of from 10 to 20 rings per inch. The trees were from 14 to 27 

 inches in diameter 2 feet above the ground. Even on the stump the 

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