LUMBER TREES 111 



found, it would doubtless be possible to secure bj' 

 mere selection new races that would admirably 

 serve the purposes of the forester. 



But of course still better results may be ex- 

 pected when pollenizing is carried out intelli- 

 gently, and the racial strains of different species 

 of conifers are blended and tested to find just 

 what are the best combinations. 



It would not be strange if among the hybrids 

 there should be found one or more varieties that 

 will attempt to rival the Sequoia itself in giant- 

 ism, and that will quite outrival it in rapidity of 

 growth. 



What the pines are as producers of white and 

 relatively soft wood of straight grain and uni- 

 form texture, the members of the great family 

 of oaks are as producers of wood of hard texture, 

 irregularly grained and knotted, but capable of 

 taking on a polish and serving almost every 

 essential purpose of the cabinetmaker. 



The most famous of oaks, doubtless, is the 

 typical British species, but the American white 

 oak is a close second. Perhaps these two might 

 be hybridized. If the hybrid thus produced were 

 by any chance to show the capacity for rapid 

 growth that the hybrid walnuts have shown, while 

 retaining the hardness of texture of its parents, 

 as the hybrid walnuts do, the tree thus produced 



