THE AMERICAN WHITE OAK 



occur every 4 to 7 years, when the yield of mast is heavy. 

 In other years the crop is light. 



White oak can maintain itself on any soil except cold, 

 wet land with an impenetrable subsoil, but it prefers the 

 deep, rich and porous loam soils of bottom lands, flats, 

 coves and gentle lower slopes. It may form practically 

 pure forest, but is usually mixed, in groups or single 

 trees, with chestnut, tulip poplar, red oak, beech, bass- 

 wood, and occasionally with hemlock and white pine. 



White oak grows more slowly than red oak at first, but 

 growth is uniform and persistent. Average growth in the 

 forest is one inch in diameter, and 5 to 8 feet in height 

 in ten years. Even under the better conditions of a well 

 cared for plantation, it requires from 125 to 200 years 

 tc reach maturity. White oak trees under forest con- 

 ditions do not bear seed until from 40 to 80 years old. 

 The acorns roll down steep slopes to a considerable 

 distance from the tree; squirrels, chipmunks, crows and 

 jays are also active in distributing 

 them. 



It is probable that not more 

 than one acorn out of every ten 

 in the forest escapes destruction 

 by animals, insects and fires. The 

 acorn germinates in the fall. It 

 first sends a strong tap root deep 

 into the soil, and the part of the 

 tree above ground grows very 

 slowly for a number of years until 

 a strong, branching root system is 

 developed. 



In planting for timber produc- 

 tion, white oak is less valuable 

 than red oak, because of its slow 

 growth. On account of the deep 

 tap root, it is difficult to transplant 

 young white oaks successfully, 

 and better results are obtained by 

 planting the acorns where the 

 trees are to grow permanently. 

 Nuts should be collected from 

 middle-aged trees. There are 

 about 100 acorns to a pound of 

 seed, or about 9,000 to a bushel. 

 If care is taken to secure acorns 

 that are free from insects, a 

 bushel of seed will produce about 

 7,500 trees. About 12 bushels of 

 acorns per acre will be required 

 for broad-cast sowing. A better 

 method is to drop the acorns in 

 shallow furrows, or plant them in 

 spaces cleared with a grub hoe, 

 about 6 feet apart. They should 

 be covered with 2 or 3 inches of 

 soil. Mixed plantings of white 

 oak with white pine, white ash or 

 red oak will give better results 

 than pure planting. 



Young seedlings will grow for 

 a few years under dense shade. 



but they soon die if deprived of an abundance of light. 

 For this reason, the forester encourages the growth of 

 young oaks by thinning out less valuable trees. Forest 

 fires are the chief enemy of white oak in the forest or 

 plantation. These destroy the leaf litter and humus 

 which nature provides to hold the moisture in the forest 

 soil, and they also cause scars at the bases of the 

 trees. In consequence, the vitality of the trees is weak- 

 ened, inviting attack by insects and wood rotting fungi. 

 Its most destructive insect enemy is the oak timber worm 

 or pin worm. Several fungi are active in causing heart 

 rot, or dote. White oak trees may also occasionally suffer 

 injury from wind shakes and frost cracks. 



White oak is a valuable tree to plant for ornamental 

 purposes, provided it has plenty of space and good soil 

 for its development. It does not thrive under the adverse 

 conditions of street planting nearly so well as red oak or 

 pin oak, and because of its spreading habit, it is better 



A FINE WHITE OAK SHADE TREE 



lily 



summer one can distinguish the White Oak very readily by its loose scaly, 



bark from which it takes its common name and by its deeply round-lobed leaves wUh 



grayish or white 

 vith a smooth 

 and pale lower surface when mature. In winter it has some characteristics apparently in 

 common with some other oaks but can be distinguished from the Red, Black, Scarlet, Chestnut 

 and Yellow Oaks by its obtuse, rather small buds; from the Swamp White Oak by the slender^ 

 reddish to grayish twigs and the absence of dark loose peeling flakes on the brashes from 

 the Post Oak by the absence of greenish rusty pubescence on the twigs; from the Fin Uak 

 by the absence of stiff lateral pins on the branches and the more obtuse buds, from the Bur 

 Oak by the absence of corky wings on the branches. In addition to. these character sties the 

 acorns and leaves which often persist will aid considerably in recognizing the different species. 



