PIN OAK 255 



or Black Oak, nor will it drop its lower limbs so completely 

 when crowded. It is reported to have been found with a 

 stem one hundred and twenty feet high and four feet in 

 diameter. It takes on a pyramidal form of crown in the 

 open, with the outer ends of its topmost branches elevated, 

 the middle ones more or less horizontal, and the lower ones 

 drooping, and forms a singularly beautiful ornamental 

 tree, the most so of any of the Oaks. 



Its natural range is from southern New England to Wis- 

 consin, south to Virginia, central Kentucky, and northern 

 Arkansas. Its best development is in the valley of the 

 Ohio. It flourishes in the rich, moist soil of river bottoms, 

 along streams, and in the borders of swamps, but takes kindly 

 to any fertile soil, and may be found quite abundant even 

 on the slopes and summits of the Alleghany Mountains. 



The wood is heavy, strong, hard, tough in young trees, 

 coarse-grained, and checks badly in seasoning. The heart- 

 wood is a light brown, frequently variegated, with nearly 

 white sapwood. Its annual rings are easily detected and its 

 medullary rays are numerous and prominent. It is not gen- 

 erally considered durable when exposed to the soil or 

 weather, but its resistance to decay when used as a railroad 

 tie appears to vary with the location or section of country 

 in which it grows, for there are well-attested cases where 

 it serves a very fair purpose. Whenever it can be secured 

 without knots or season checks, it serves well for interior 

 finish and furniture. Its general use is for cheap construc- 

 tion, cheap cooperage, even shingles and clapboards, but 

 it cannot serve a very satisfactory purpose for either of 

 the latter. 



It is little given to sprouting, but is readily grown from 

 seed, and is one of the very few Oaks that will bear trans- 

 planting without seriously affecting its subsequent growth ; 

 no Oak surpasses it in this respect. It is tap-rooted, but 

 for all that, it is furnished with many fibrous roots and 

 takes on lateral ones in early life. Possessing these features, 

 it can endure having its tap-root removed without much 



