3-.M 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



grouped at the ends of the twigs in star-like clusters. The leaves are 

 four or six inches long, with wedge-shaped or rounded bases, and are 

 deep green and shiny on the upper side, but lighter below. The acorns 

 are short, stubby, and rounded, covered one-third of the way with thin 

 shallow cups. 



Shingle oak grows rapidly, and it is often sold by nurseries which 

 deal in ornamental forest trees. It is hardy as far north as Massachu- 

 setts. Although it bears great abundance of leaves, they are so arranged 

 that the crown seems open. One may see through the branches of a large 

 shingle oak, and it suggests an airiness not common with oaks. 



Differences of opinion exist concerning the value of shingle oak for 

 commercial purposes. It belongs in the black oak group, and its wood 

 goes to market as red oak, and apparently is never listed as anything else. 

 It is never named in market reports; shops and factories never report it, 

 and it has been pronounced inferior to red oak in strength and seasoning 

 properties. Tests have been made of some of its physical properties, 

 and the results do not indicate that the wood belongs with inferior tim- 

 bers. Its breaking strength is given at 39 per cent greater than white 

 oak, and its stiffness at 28 per cent greater. However, these values, 

 which are calculated from Sargent's tables, are based on tests of only a 

 few specimens of the wood, and fuller investigation might make revision 

 necessary. 



The wood is heavy, hard, and is said to check badly in drying. The 

 pores are large and are arranged in rows ; medullary rays are broad and 

 conspicuous. The wood is light brown, tinged with red, the sap wood 

 much lighter. The broad medullary rays, running radially, give the 

 wood its good splitting qualities. 



The tree is fairly abundant in different parts of its range, and is cut 

 and manufactured with other oaks and hardwoods. Slack coopers use 

 it for barrels; box makers employ it for crates; chair mills saw dimension 

 stock and ship it to factories to be finished; some goes to furniture 

 factories; some is turned for spindles for grills, and for balusters for 

 stairs; other fills various places as interior finish and molding. But it all 

 goes to market and passes through factories under names other than 

 its own. 



WATER OAK (Quercus nigra) has several names, some of them 

 bestowed with little apparent reason. It is called possum oak and duck 

 oak, but these names are neither descriptive nor definitive. Punk oak is 

 another name. It may refer to a decayed condition of the wood, but 

 this tree is no more affected by decay than others of the same region. 

 In Texas it is sometimes known as spotted oak. It thrives in wet' 

 situations though not actually in swamps. It prefers margins of ponds, 



