OAK 



OAK 



Third Section. — Leaves mullijld, or 

 mamj-chft. 



23. Barron serul) oak (Qucrcus Cates- 

 b(ei}, fifteen to tliirly feet high. 



24. Spanish (juk^Quirntx/dlcala), sev- 

 enty to eighty feet high. 



25. Black oak {Qucrcus tinctoria), six- 

 ty to seventy feet high. 



26. Scarlet oak {Qucrcus coccinca), 

 eighty feet high : produces brown- 

 ish ink galls. 



27. Gray oak {Quercus amhiffua), a 

 hybrid, seventy to eighty feet high. 



28. Pin oak {Qucrcus paluslris), forty 

 to sixty feet high. 



29. Red oak {Qucrcus rubra), seventy 

 to eighty feet high." 



To this list a few others have been 

 added, and some of the names of 

 Michaux changed. Of the additions, 

 the Southern {Q. Michauxii), tifty to 

 sixty feet high, is the most important. 

 The list is, indeed, extended now to 

 some forty-five trees and shrubs, but 

 many of these are unquestionably hy- 

 brids, or varieties, in which list Q. 

 ainhii'ua, hcmisphc.rica,}iumulis, olitusa, 

 vudlis, and others are to be reckoned. 



The most important of this noble 

 class of trees is the white oak {Q. 

 alba), which is especially developed 

 on tiie clay and calcareous soils of 

 the Middle States : it is a close-grain- 

 ed, tough, and durable wood, exten- 

 sively employed in building, naval 

 structures, and almost every purpose. 

 The black oak {Q. linctoria) yields a 

 good timber,- but it is porous, and in- 

 ferior to the preceding ; the bark is, 

 however, much employed for tanning, 

 and the inner bark yields the quer- 

 citron bark, exiensively exported as 

 a yellow dye-stuff. The bark of Q. 

 acuminata vel caslanea, a northern 

 tree, is also used for a yellow dye. 

 The bark of the Spanish oak is pre- 

 ferred for tanning, but the wood is 

 liable to worms. The Q. vircns, Flor- 

 ida, or live oak, produces a timber of 

 remarkable toughness and durabili- 

 ty, said to be superior to all other 

 kinds for naval purposes. It is not 

 extensively developed, and grows in 

 swampy situations. 



The proper time for felling timber 

 is a question much agitated ; from 



October to March is adopted by the 

 French ; mid-winter by the English. 

 Duhamel examined this subject thor- 

 oughly, and concluded that the time 

 was by no means important, for that 

 timber felled in summer, and care- 

 fully seasoned, was as tough and du- 

 rable as winter-felled. Barking is 

 practised in June and July, and it is 

 an advantage to allow the tree to 

 stand until the fall, and then fell for 

 timber ; indeed, Duhamel recom- 

 mends that it be allowed to stand 

 two years after, and this is practised 

 by the Dutch, and in some measure 

 by the English. It is not, however, 

 to be recommended for more than 

 one season, since the moisture of a 

 swamp and other causes may bring 

 on the growth of fungi. 



OAK APPLE. A spongy excres- 

 cence growing on the young stems 

 of various oaks, especially the red 

 oak ; it is produced by an insect, the 

 Cynips conjlucnlus. On the white oak, 

 excrescences, very nearly resembling 

 small gall-nuts, are produced by the 

 C. oncratus. Other species of cy- 

 nips sting the various oaks, forming 

 excrescences more or less large ; of 

 these, the gall-nuts of the white and 

 scarlet oak are most used for making 

 ink, and the former closely resemble 

 the commercial galls. 



OAK BARK. The innermost lay- 

 er of the black and Spanish bark are 

 of the greatest service in tanning ; 

 the tan often amounts to 77 parts in 

 the 100 in this bark during the spring, 

 but is very much less in autumn and 

 winter: the difference, as ascertain- 

 ed by Mr. Higgins, is upward of two 

 thirds. The bark, when split off, 

 should be set up in loose piles to dry, 

 the pieces being so placed as to throw 

 off water, which injures its quality. 

 As soon as dry it ought to be kept 

 under a shed, and not ground till 

 wanted. The exhausted bark of the 

 tanner is much used by gardeners for 

 various purposes, and when rotted, 

 forms a good humus manure. See 

 Bark and Tan. 



OAK PRUNER. Oaks are infest- 

 ed by numerous insects, the most cu- 

 rious of which is the pruner {Stenoco- 



52.') 



