AMERICAN FOREST TREES 249 



the processes of nature, and the wood is made proof against leakage. 

 That is what gives white oak its superiority as stave timber. It has as 

 many pores as red oak, but upon close examination under a magnifying 

 glass, they are found to be plugged, while red oak's pores are wide open. 

 The result is that red oak barrels leak through the wood ; those made of 

 white oak do not. Chinquapin oak possesses the same properties, which 

 account for its reputation as stave material. 



The future for chinquapin oak is not quite as promising as that of 

 chestnut oak. The former's choice growing place is on rich soil and in 

 damp situations. These happen to be what the farmer wants, and he 

 will not leave the chinquapin oak alone to grow in nature's method, nor 

 will he plant its acorns in places where the trees will interfere with his 

 cornfields and meadows. Consequently, the tree is apt to receive scant 

 consideration after the original forests have disappeared; while its poor 

 cousin, the chestnut oak, will be left to make its way on sterile ridges, 

 and may even receive some help from the forester and woodlot owner. 



VALLEY OAK (Quercus lobatd) is often considered to be the largest hardwood of 

 the Pacific coast. Trunk diameters of ten feet have been recorded, and heights 

 more than 100; but such measurements belong only to rare and extraordinary indi- 

 viduals. The average size of the tree is less than half of that. The most famous 

 tree of this species is the Sir Joseph Hooker oak, near Chico, California, though it is 

 not the largest. It is seven feet in diameter and 100 high. It was named by the 

 botanist Asa Gray in 1877. This species is commonly called California white oak, 

 which name would be unobjectionable if it were the only white oak in California. 

 A more distinctive name is weeping oak, which refers to the appearance of the outer 

 branches. It is called swamp oak, but without good reason, though the ground on 

 which it grows is often swampy during the rainy season. The name valley oak is 

 specially appropriate, since its favorite habitat is in the broad valleys of central 

 California. Its range does not go outside that state, neither does the tree grow 

 very high on the mountains. Its range begins in the upper Sacramento valley and 

 extends to Tejon, south of Lake Tulare, a distance north and. south of about five 

 hundred miles, while east and west the tree is found from the Sierra foothills to the 

 sea, 150 or 200 miles. Its characteristic growth is in scattered stands. It does not 

 form forests in the ordinary sense. Two or three large trees to the acre are an average , 

 and often many acres are wholly missed. The form of trees, and the wide spaces 

 between them, resemble an old apple orchard, though few apple trees live to attain 

 the dimensions of the valley oak of ordinary size. The best stands were originally in 

 the Santa Clara valley and in the central part of the San Joaquin valley in the salt 

 grass region north of Lake Tulare in Kings and Fresno counties. Most of the largest 

 trees were cut long ago. 



The leaves are lobed like white oak (Quercus alba) but are smaller, seldom more 

 than four inches long and two wide. The acorns are uncommonly long, some of 

 them being two and a half inches, sharp pointed, with shallow cups. The wood ot 

 this oak is brash and breaks easily. It is far below good eastern oak in strength and 

 elasticity. It weighs 46.17 pounds per cubic foot. The tree grows rapidly, and its 

 wide, clearly -defined annual rings are largely dense summerwood. The springwood 

 is perforated with large pores. The color of the wood is light brown, the sapwood 



