a40 THE GUMS 



The wood is heavy, soft, strong, very tough, decays 

 quickly when exposed, is difficult to season ; fibres fine, but 

 much interlaced, and hence hard to split ; heartwood light 

 brownish yellow, with sapwood lighter-colored, but very 

 thick, showing seventy-five or eighty annual rings. It is 

 used for wheelhubs, rollers for wire ropes, ox-yokes, crates 

 for fruit and other like commodities that can be shipped 

 in boxes of thin material, cut into veneers for packing up 

 seats and panels, and also for wrapping packages where 

 they can be rolled up, its interlaced fibre preventing split- 

 ting when thus used. 



As other and more valuable species can generally be 

 grown where this flourishes, it is manifestly better to culti- 

 vate them than to endeavor to propagate this species be- 

 yond what natural reproduction will bring about. A little 

 care in that direction will provide all that is needed, for it 

 is mainly used for want of better species. 



TUPELO GUM : JVyssa aquatica 



FORTUNATELY this tree is not loaded down with many 

 names. In addition to Tupelo, it is sometimes called Sour 

 Gum and Cotton Gum. Its botanical name indicates its 

 aquatic character, which is very pronounced. It is the 

 largest and most important of the genuine Gums. Its range 

 is along the coast region from southern Virginia to northern 

 Florida, through the Gulf States to Texas, and then up 

 the Mississippi Valley to Missouri. It is essentially a swamp 

 tree, growing in many places where the ground is inun- 

 dated for a large part of the year. It is a frequent com- 

 panion of the Bald Cypress, and like that tree has a greatly 

 enlarged, tapering, and generally hollow base. In large 

 trees this base may reach seven or eight feet across at the 

 ground. It is a large, stately tree, frequently growing to a 

 height of one hundred feet, with a diameter of four or five 

 feet next above the enlarged base. Its branches are com- 

 paratively small, having few or no specialized limbs, and 



