SILVICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS 47 



considerable distance except by squirrels and similar means. 

 The acorns germinate best on a mineral soil lightly covered with 

 leaves. In southern New England the chief reproduction of oak 

 is by sprouts. The sprouting capacity of the white oak de- 

 creases rapidly after sixty years. The red oak is a better sprouter, 

 and here again is a close second to the chestnut. 



Oak bark is so thick that it is little damaged by surface fires. 

 The white oaks, however, are scorched severely by hot surface 

 fires, after which they become infested with fungi. 



In eastern Massachusetts and the adjacent territory the oaks 

 are damaged and frequently killed by the gipsy and brown-tail 

 moths. 



Oak lumber is strong and the white oak particularly is durable 

 in the soil. It has accordingly many uses and sells at a good 

 price. The numerous uses make the oaks important trees to 

 produce, but their rather slow growth is a factor against them 

 from the forester's standpoint. Red oak will be planted much 

 more than the white. 



TULIP TREE, WHITEWOOD, YELLOW POPLAR (Liriodendron 



tulipifera) . 



This tree, known in different parts of its range by these various 

 names, is a southern species extending from Massachusetts west 

 into Illinois and Arkansas and south to the Gulf of Mexico. In 

 New England it is most common in Connecticut. 



In the region treated in this book, the whitewood, as it com- 

 monly is called here, is usually a tree of the rich, moist bottom 

 lands, and rarely grows on dry upland sites. In its requirement 

 as to light it is exacting, though the seedlings sometimes start 

 under a light shade. 



The tulip is a fairly rapid grower, although in this section its 

 growth is probably less rapid than farther south. It is also a 

 long-lived tree. It has a characteristically straight form, free 

 from defects, and veterans two feet through and eighty or ninety 

 feet high are sometimes found even in this northern extension of 

 its range. In the south it grows much larger. 



