THE LUMBER TRADE JOURNAL 



[New Orleans, La., March 15, 1912. 



be noted. The Cuban pine's needles are generally 

 longer, the wood is heavier, stiffer, stronger, harder, 

 and is much more resinous. Turpentine operators 

 orchard .the Cuban and the longleaf pines, but sel- 

 dom the loblolly or the shortleaf. The Cuban grows 

 rapidly and has wide rings and thick saip. Seed- 

 lings spread readily into areas left vacant by lum- 

 bering or by fire. In this habit it resembles loblolly. 

 The Cuban pine has apparently worked its way 

 north-ward through the Florida Peninsula, although 

 there is no historical record that it has done so. It 

 seems to have crossed from Cuba ages ago. It is 

 now the only pine in South Florida. At about one- 

 third of the distance up the Peninsula it meets long- 

 leaf pine, and the two mingle together. Loblolly 

 is encountered at about the same time, (but shortleaf 

 is not met until the northern part of Florida is 

 reached. There the four southern yellow pines, 

 longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly and Cuban, mingle, and 

 all four grow in. southern Mississippi. The Cuban 

 pine has not yet advanced much further north or 

 west than the southern part of that state, though It 

 is probable that it will continue to advance and 

 take possession of land where longleaf once grew, 

 provided the agricultural interests of the people per- 

 mit it to do so. It holds out much promise to toe- 

 come one of the most profitable pines of the South. 

 It is not known how far north this tree can endure 

 the climate. 



The four pines listed above constitute the group 

 from which the southern yellow pine lumber is cut, 

 but two or three other pines are occasionally lum- 

 bered in Mississippi, though the amounts are small. 

 One of these is the spruce or cedar pine (pinus 

 glabra). It has very short leaves and thin bark, 

 and the wood is somewhat like the northern white 

 pine, light, soft and easily worked. It is not abund- 

 ant. The sand pine, occasionally called spruce pine 

 (pinus clausa) is found in the state, but tfhe tree is 

 usually small. 



Cypress. 



Except pines, cypress is the most important soft- 

 wood found in Mississippi. 'Botanists recognize two 

 species of this tree, Taxodium distichum and Taxo- 

 dium imbricarium, but lumbermen do not distin- 

 guish them apart. The heaviest stands are in the 

 Delta region, along the 'banks of the rivers, ponds, 

 and lagoons, and on the flat lands subject to fre- 

 quent overflow. The tree is able to maintain itself 

 on ground which is under water much of the time. 

 It has been generally observed by persons familiar 

 with the region that young cypresses are not com- 

 ing on in sufficient numbers to take the places of old, 

 mature trees which are ready to fall toy natural de- 

 cay or before the lumberman's ax. It is pretty gen- 

 erally understood that when the present cypress 

 forests have been cut, there will be little prospect 

 of a future cutting. The sunlight let in by lumber 

 operations seems to be fatal to small seedlings. In 

 some localities and in restricted areas young cy- 

 presses are getting started, but such is the exception 

 rather than the rule. 



There is a little red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) 

 in Mississippi, 'but not enough to cut much figure in 

 the state's timber resources. It is a tree of rather 

 slow growth, and unless seedlings come in out-of- 

 the-way places, they are not apt to be encouraged 

 by farmers who may need the land. 



The Oaks. 



The Bureau of the Census in compiling yearly 

 statistics of lumber cut does not distinguish 'be- 

 tween different species or kinds of oak. There are 

 in ithe United States several dozen species of oak, 

 not all in one region, but scattered from Canada to 

 Mexico and from ocean to ocean. Almost every spe- 

 cies is made into lumber to a larger or smaller ex- 

 tent, yet statistics group all of them as if they were 

 a single wood, like yellow poplar. Sawmill men in 

 their own yards usually recognize at least two 

 classes of oak lumber, white oak and red oak. There 

 is a particular tree whose proper name is red oak 

 (Quercus rubra), and another whose name is white 

 oak (Quercus alba), but sawmill men usually group 

 several similar oaks and call the lumber from one 

 whole group white oak, or a group of another kind 

 is called red oak. Just what this "white oak" or 

 "red oak" lumber is actually composed of depends 

 upon the region where it is cut. If produced in 

 New York, for example, it would contain species 

 somewhat different than that cut in Mississippi, be- 

 cause the two regions do not produce exactly iden- 

 tical species of oaks. It is not very difficult to de- 

 termine what constitutes white oak or red oak lum- 

 ber in a single state. There are seven white oaks 

 in the forests of Mississippi, if the live oak is count- 

 ed as a white oak, and there are nine red oaks, six- 

 teen oaks in all, cut for lumber, though some of 

 them in quite small quantities. 



Certain characteristics help to distinguish white 

 oaks from red oaks. The leaves of the former usu- 

 ally have rounded lobes, but those of red oaks are 



sharp pointed. These features do not hold in all 

 cases. The live oak's leaves are unlobed in Missis- 

 sippi, and the black jack (a red oak) does not have 

 sharp-lobed leaves, and the willow oak's leaves have 

 no lobes. The shape of the leaf, therefore, is a use- 

 ful guide in determining whether an oak belongs to 

 the white oak or the red oak group, but something 

 more than that is necessary to make sure in most 

 cases. 



The white oaks ripen their acorns in one season; 

 the red oaks require two. That is a pretty safe test, 

 but in practice it is sometimes difficult to apply. It 

 Is not always convenient to watch a tree two years 

 to see when the acorns fall. By noting the leaves 

 and the acorns, and likewise the general appearance 

 of the trees, one can usually determine whether a 

 tree belongs in the white oak or the red oak group. 

 A third test is found in an examination of the wood 

 itself. The structure of the wood of no two species 

 of oak is exactly the same. A study of these differ- 

 ences will make it possible for an observer to deter- 

 mine the exact species of oak to which a piece of 

 wood belongs, though the study is somewhat tech- 

 nical, and care and experience are necessary to work 

 out satisfactory results. The United States Forest 

 Service has prepared a manual and a key to assist 

 those who desire to identify oaks from an examina- 

 tion of the wood. (Bulletin 102 U. S. Forest Ser- 

 vice. ) 



White Oaks. 



The common white oak (Quercus alba) is a val- 

 uable forest resource of Mississippi. This tree holds 

 an important place in more than half of the states 

 of the Union, and the lumber is shipped to every 

 state. The standing tree is not apt to be mistaken 

 for any other if it is closely observed; besides, in 

 most localities, it is the commonest of the white 

 oaks. 



Post Oak (Quercus minor). 



This tree receives its highest praise when it is 

 declared to be as good as white oak. Many lumber- 

 men cut it and suppose they are cutting common 

 white oak, though they recognize a slight difference 

 in the leaves and frequently in the shape of the 

 tree. A few manufacturers who buy different spe- 

 cies of white oak insist on post oak beimg kept sep- 

 arate from others. They consider it a little better 

 tJhan the others, or, at least, it meets their particu- 

 lar requirements a little better. 



Cow Oak (Quercus mictiauxii). 



The only reason offered for the name of this oak 

 is that cattle eat the acorns. It is occasionally 

 known as basket oak, because the wood separates 

 readily into long, thin splints useful in making 

 basekts. 



Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata). 



In some parts of Mississippi this tree is called 

 water white oak. The cup nearly encloses the acorn, 

 and because of that, the tree is usually easy to iden- 

 tify. 



Chinquapin Oak (Quercus acuminata). 



This should not be confounded with the chinqua- 

 pin, wliich is a little chestnut. The acorn of the 

 chinquapin oak is sometimes eaten as a nut. The 

 tree is smaller than most other white oaks, but is 

 occasionally cut for lumber. 



Durand Oak (Quercus breviloba). 



This white oak is so scarce in Mississippi that it 

 hardly deserves a place as a timber tree, though the 

 wood is of excellent quality. It is found near Co- 

 lumbus and in Mhoon's Valley. 



Live Oak (Quercus virginiana). 



This is the common live oak tree of the Southern 

 states. It is scattered from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. Its chief value once was for ship-building, 

 when large vessels were of wood. iLive oak knees 

 were hewed from the junction of roots or large limbs 

 with the trunk, but at the present time this extraor- 

 dinarily strong, "hard wood serves few purposes. The 

 trunks are generally too short and misshapen for 

 saw-logs. The fact that its acorns ripen in one sea- 

 son, as among the white oaks, is the principal reason 

 for calling this tree a white oak. Otherwise, it bears 

 greater resemblance to the red oaks. 



Red Oaks. 



Nine or more of Mississippi's oaks belong to the 

 red oak group. Some of them are of much import- 

 ance In the lumber supply, while others occupy mi- 

 nor places. At least five different species are called 

 red oak at the sawmills before they are cut into 

 lumber, and others are given that name in the lum- 

 ber yard. There is rather more difference between 

 the woods of the different species of red oak than 



between the white oaks. Most of the latter show 

 very good grain when quarter sawed; some of the 

 red oaks show good grain, others do not. 



Red Oak (Quercus rubra). 



This tree is not plentiful in any part of Mississippi 

 and is not believed to exits at all in the southern 

 part. The extreme southern limit of the tree's 

 range barely enters the state, while its best devel- 

 opment is found in Kentucky, West Virginia and 

 Pennsylvania. In most cases when a lumberman as 

 far south as Mississippi speaks of red oak he has in 

 mind one of the other oaks of the group, and not the 

 Quercus rubra or the genuine red oak. He most 

 likely means the yellow oak or the Texan oak, per- 

 haps the water or the willow oak. 



Texan Oak (Quercus texana). 



This species is very common in Mississippi, and is 

 occasionally called spotted or Spanish oak, though 

 it is most commonly known simply as red oak. 

 Probably no oak in Mississippi supplies more lum- 

 ber than this, but it is impossible to produce statis- 

 tics to substantiate this statement, because of the 

 custom of lumping together several oaks in the mill 

 yards as one. Some of the best Texan oaks show 

 grain and color which very nearly approach choice 

 northern red oak. 



Yellow Oak (Quercus velutina). 



This is an easy specie to identify in the woods. 

 The inner bark, a thin layer next the wood, is yel- 

 low, and it may be exposed to view with a stroke 

 of an ax, or even by boring through with the point 

 of a pocket knife. Old settlers used this substance 

 in dying cloth. The yellow oak tree as it grows in 

 the forest is an uncertain quality from the lumber- 

 man's standpoint. 'Very good stuff may be cut from 

 it, or the output may be poor. Few kinds of trees 

 are more dependent upon 'the soil in which they 

 grow. Good ground grows good timber, poor soil, 

 the reverse. It is true that most trees are influ- 

 enced by the quality of the soil, and by the climate 

 in which they grow, but yellow oak is more respon- 

 sive than most others. Trees on rich, well-drained 

 ground may produce wood fit for tight cooperage 

 which is a very exacting use; while others in poor, 

 dry situations are scarcely worth cutting, so worm- 

 eaten, wind-shaken and doty are they. 



Turkey Oak (Quercus catesbaei). 



Turkey oak has never been of much importance in 

 Mississippi and is not likely to become so. Choice 

 trees make good lumber, but are met with only occa- 

 sionally. iSome call it "forked-leaf oak," and the 

 name is due to the leaf's somewhat fanciful resemb- 

 lance to a turkey foot. 



Spanish Oak (Quercus digitata). 



Attempts to identify this oak by its leaves alone 

 sometimes leads to confusion, for leaves differ great- 

 ly. Some have well-developed lobes, others have 

 none. The same tree often produces leaves of very 

 different forms. In this respect it is like sassafras. 

 The 'bark and general appearance of this oak resem- 

 ble the water and the willow oaks. The three, in 

 fact, look so much alike that they seem to belong 

 in a class by themselves. 



Water Oak (Quercus nigra). 



Water oak is not generally well liked by lumber- 

 men. They complain that the wood is difficult to 

 season, and that it has no beauty of grain to com- 

 mend it for high-grade furniture and finish. It 

 seems to be slowly working its way into use, and it 

 will ultimately win, for the wood, in spite of some 

 drawbacks, has good qualities. One point in its 

 favor is that it grows rapidly, and though it may 

 not measure up to the cypress in good appearance 

 of the lumber, the tree may be expected to increase 

 in size nearly ten times as rapidly. When the 

 leaves are young, in the early spring, they show a 

 soft, delicate, velvety green unsurpassed in beauty 

 by any other oak. It is well fitted for parks and 

 street shade, and the people of Mississippi are show- 

 ing their appreciation of it for those purposes. 



Willow Oak (Quercus phellos). 



This tree owes its name to its willow-like leaves. 

 Its wood is probably never known in the lumber 

 yard or factory as willow oak but always as red oak. 

 The tree, while standing, bears so little resemblance 

 to the true red oak that no one could possibly mis- 

 take one for the other; but when the lumber of the 

 two has been seasoned and dressed and laid side by 

 side, it would often puzzle a good lumberman to 

 tell which was which; but willow oak, if it is to be 

 compared with red oak, should be well selected from 

 choice trees, for the run df it is probably not quite 

 equal in appearance to Northern red oa'k, being a 

 little paler in color. The willow oak grows rapidly, 

 and the wide annual rings show well in finished lum- 



