32 CALIFORNIA TANBARK OAK. 



satisfaction. This seems to be proved by a number of finished speci- 

 mens of the wood now in the Forest Service offices in San Francisco. 



The mechanical properties of tanbark oak render it suitable for 

 wagon and car stock. In bending and crushing strength it compares 

 favorably with eastern oak and hickory, which have for so long been 

 used in such construction. In drying it shrinks about the same 

 amount as red oak. Tanbark-oak bolsters for logging trucks are in 

 use and giving satisfaction. A number of strips of tanbark oak 1J 

 inches thick, 4 inches wide, and 6 feet long were steamed and bent at 

 a wagon factory in Oakland, Cal., with as good results as with white 

 oak under similar treatment. 



Under present methods the price of bark f. o. b. track in the regions 

 of production averages $15 per cord. The fuel wood from the trees 

 that furnished this cord of bark would amount to about 2 cords, 

 worth on an average $5 per cord delivered at the nearest railroad. 

 Bark and cord wood together, then, would be worth $25. The 2 cords 

 of fuel would amount to about 1,600 feet board measure. If half of 

 this is suitable for boards, it is evident that with the present price of 

 oak lumber the returns would be greater if the tree were cut into 

 lumber rather than cordwood. 



In conclusion, there seems to be no good reason why tanbark oak 

 should not take its place in the Pacific coast hardwood market for 

 many if not all the purposes for which eastern hardwoods are now 

 imported; and if this is true lumber companies owning tanbark-oak 

 stump age could profitably take up the utilization of this wood as 

 lumber. In California, particularly, where such large quantities of 

 hardwood are imported at a high and constantly increasing cost, a 

 native oak with both properties and appearance that compare favor- 

 ably with eastern oaks ought not to be allowed to go to waste, but 

 should at least be given a commercial trial. 



