COW OAK 243 



dred feet with a diameter of five or even six feet, with a 

 clean stem for fifty or more feet. Like nearly all other 

 Oaks, it is intolerant of shade. 



The wood is hard, heavy, tough, strong, coarse-grained, 

 and durable. The heartwood is a light brown, with a thin and 

 darker-colored sapwood. Its medullary rays are large and 

 conspicuous, but not numerous, and its annual rings are 

 clearly shown. There is a distinct difference between the 

 spring and summer wood, the pores in the former being 

 very prominent. Its wood is quite like that of the White 

 Oak, differing mainly in being more easily split, especially 

 between the annual layers. This feature makes it available 

 for basketwork and has given it the name of " Basket Oak " 

 in some localities. It is used for interior finish, cabinet- 

 work, general construction, railroad ties, and substantially 

 all purposes for which White Oak can be used. The tree 

 could very appropriately be called the White Oak of the 

 Southern States, and, excepting the Southern Red Oak, it is, 

 no doubt, the most valuable broadleaf tree growing there. 



Unfortunately it does not appear to flourish on dry 

 ground, and until it is experimentally shown that it will 

 grow there, its cultivation should be confined to its natural 

 soil. As it naturally grows where nearly all other valuable 

 timber trees refuse to grow, this, aside from its good quali- 

 ties as a timber tree, is an additional reason for its cultiva- 

 tion. Standing more or less in the water, it has no need of a 

 tap-root, and hence that feature has not been greatly devel- 

 oped, as in most other Oaks, and there should be little diffi- 

 culty in transplanting it when young, and the moist ground in 

 which it grows should insure success. But this would be ex- 

 perimental, for there are no known efforts in that line. Its 

 propagation by planting seeds would certainly be a safe 

 undertaking, for that would be but following Nature. Gath- 

 ering and planting the acorns they mature in one year 

 should be the same as for other Oaks, and the distance 

 apart for planting, the same. As the ground should be at 

 least moist where the seeds are planted, it would naturally 



