408 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



a darker, heavier timber, more elastic, less fissile, easier to bend 

 under steam. This tree is also the quicker of the two in growth, 

 and lives in poorer soil. Its bark is richer in medicinal dyeing and 

 tanning principles. 2. Q. pedunculata (Ehrhart). This variety 

 supplies most of the oak-timber in Britain for ship -building, and is 

 the best for many kinds of cabinet-makers' and joiners' work ; most 

 important also for staves. Saplings and branches in demand for 

 walking sticks. In Britain the oak is sometimes attacked by 

 Scolytus multistriatus. Extract of oak-bark for tanners' use 

 fetches about 18 per ton in the London market ; the best oak -bark 

 yields 16 to 20 per cent, tannin. Hon. W. J. Winter noticed the 

 British oak to withstand an occasional shade -temperature of 118 

 degrees F. in Riverina, New South Wales. The long- continued 

 adherence of dead leaves in the cool and most verdant season 

 renders this oak not so well adapted for pleasure-grounds in the 

 warmer parts of the temperate zone as many others, particularly 

 evergreen oaks. The English oak is however of quicker growth 

 than many other species. At Port Phillip it attains as a maximum 

 to a height of 40-50 feet in 20 years. The galls, produced by 

 Cynips calicis, are sought for particular tanning, and called in 

 Germany Knoppern. The best oak-bark for tanning is obtained 

 from trees 12-36 years old [Prof. Wiesner]. A variety Q. pubescens 

 (Willdenow) occurring in South-Europe, prefers calcareous soil. 

 It is this particular oak, under the shade of which truffle-beds are 

 chiefly established. 



Quercus rubra, Linne. 



The Bed-Oak of Eastern North- America. Height reaching about 

 100 feet ; diameter of stem 4 feet. A tree, content with poor soil, 

 comparatively quick in growth. The wood, though coarse, is of 

 rigidity, and has not the fault of warping ; it is of fair value for 

 staves [Simrnonds], and even building purposes, but variable in 

 quality according to. soil and clime [Sargent]. The bark is rich in 

 tannin. Autumnal tint of foliage beautifully red. The acorns, 

 which are produced in great abundance, are relished by hogs. The 

 tree is hardy still at Christiania. Circumferential stem-measurement 

 at 2 feet from the ground after 22 years about 38 inches [Furnas], 



Quercus semecarpifolia, Smith. 



In the Himalayas and adjoining ranges up to about 12,000 feet. 

 The largest of the oaks of India, upwards of 100 feet high, with a 

 stem often 18 feet in girth. Leafless annually for a short time ; not 

 quick of growth. It furnishes a hard and heavy timber of fair 

 quality. The leaves are locally stored for winter-forage. An 

 elaborate account of the nature of the wood and the increment of 

 growth is given by J. S Gamble for this and some other oaks in 

 his manual of Indian timbers. 



