AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



poor seasoning qualities. Like other southern oaks, it is very heavy 

 when green, and it is inclined to shrink and warp while in the process 

 of parting with its moisture. If this can be successfully overcome, the 

 wood ought to be valuable. Tests made on four samples cut on St. 

 John's river, Florida, recorded in Sargent's tables, show remarkable 

 results. The wood is 34 per cent stronger and 37 per cent stiffer than 

 white oak, and is only one pound heavier per cubic foot of dry wood. 

 If these values are fairly representative of the wood of laurel oak, it 

 should be exceptionally valuable in vehicle making. It would fall 

 considerably below hickory, but would stand very high among other 

 woods, and could be recommended for wagon axles, tongues, and other 

 parts of heavy vehicles. 



It should be borne in mind, however, that tests alone, and par- 

 ticularly when the number of samples is small, are not sufficient to decide 

 a wood's place as a manufacturing material. It must be tried in actual 

 practice, and that has not yet been done in the case of laurel oak as a 

 wagon wood. When tried out it may exhibit defects, or undesirable 

 qualities, which are not apparent in samples employed in laboratory 

 tests. 



There is little exact information available in regard to the supply of 

 laurel oak in the South. It is not abundant in the sense that willow oak 

 and Texan red oak are. Neither are the trees generally of good form for 

 lumber. Little has ever been cut, because the land where it grows is not 

 demanded for agriculture. It occupies out-of-the-way places, and the 

 hunter and fisherman are better acquainted with it than the lumberman. 



HIGHLAND OAK (Quercus wislizeni) is a California evergreen with 

 leaves commonly shaped like holly, but sometimes their edges are 

 smooth with no sign of teeth. The foliage remains longer on this tree 

 than is usual with evergreen oaks. Old leaves generally fall within a 

 month after the new crop appears; but those of highland oak remain 

 several months longer, gradually falling during the second summer. 

 When the tree is at its best it is a splendid representative of the vegetable 

 kingdom. Its form does not please lumbermen, for the trunk is short 

 and rough; but the crown rises seventy or eighty feet, is symmetrical, 

 the foliage dark green, and the general appearance is that of an enor- 

 mous holly tree. Trunks are sometimes five or six feet in diameter. 

 The name highland oak is somewhat misleading, though the species 

 ascends to an altitude of 6,000 feet or more. It is described as a high- 

 land tree to distinguish it from the California live oak (Quercus agrifolia) 

 which grows in the vicinity of the sea in California. The highland oak 

 ranges from northern California to the international boundary, following 

 the foothills of the mountain ranges. It occurs in dry river bottoms and 



