OAK. -05 



Tennessee, Indian Territory and Texas. In Minnesota common 

 or abundant in all except the extreme northeastern part. 



Prorogation. Very easily grown from seeds planted in au- 

 tumn. The seedlings in good prairie soil attain a height of 

 about four feet in five years. 



Properties of wood. Heavy, hard, rather brittle, coarse 

 grained and very durable in contact with the soil; color, rich 

 brown with much lighter brown sapwood. Specific gravity 

 -74535 weight of a cubic foot 46.45 pounds. 



Uses. The Bur Oak is the most magnificent, most durable 

 and longest lived tree for planting throughout this whole sec- 

 tion. It is also one of the most valuable timber trees of North 

 America. Although its wood is rather coarser grained and in- 

 ferior in strength to that of the White Oak, with which it is 

 commercially confounded, yet it is used for the same purposes. 



Quercus rubra. Red Oak. 



-Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong, moderately sometimes 

 deeply pinnatifid with rounded sinuses, seven to nine narrow 

 lobes, these and the teeth being bristle pointed; mature leaves 

 rather thin, turning dark red after frost in autumn. Cup saucer- 

 shaped or flat, with a narrow raised border of fine scales, sessile 

 or on a very short stalk, very much shorter than the acorn, 

 which is oblong-ovoid or turgid-ovoid, one inch or less in 

 length, with a bitter kernel. Two years are required to ripen, 

 the nut, which is consequently found on the old wood below 

 the leaves of the season. Bark smoother than that of most 

 oaks. A tree seventy to eighty or more feet high, with a trunk 

 three or four feet in diameter. 



Distribution. From Nova Scotia to the divide west of Lake 

 Superior and to central Kansas, south to Georgia and Ten- 

 nessee. In Minnesota found along the Mississippi river and 

 occasionally in other parts, but is not very common anywhere 

 in the state. 



Propagation. Easily grown from fall sown seeds. 



Properties of wood. Heavy, hard, strong, coarse grained and 

 liable to check badly in drying. Specific gravity 0.6621 ; weight 

 of a cubic foot, 41.25 pounds. 



Uses. The Red Oak has been used to a limited extent in this 

 country and Europe as an ornamental tree, for which its stately 



