The Oaks 



a large group which takes two years to ripen an acorn crop. As a 

 rule, these trees always show half-formed acorns on their terminal 

 twigs in winter. The white or annual-fruited oaks never carry 

 any over; they ripen their fruits and cast them in the autumn. 

 Black oaks have bristly pointed leaves; white oaks have only 

 curved lines on their leaf margins. These facts are well worth 

 remembering. 



Most people know an oak "just by the looks of it." Ask 

 them which oak it is, and they can't be sure. The bark of the 

 black oak, with its orange lining, is the key to its name. The 

 woodsman knows that this oak leads the country as the source 

 of tan bark. Only the chestnut oak comes near it in percentage 

 of tannin. Beside tannin, there is in the inner bark the yellow 

 dyestuflf called quercitron, which, before the discovery of aniline 

 dyes, was largely used in the printing of calicoes. The yellow 

 bark was dried, then ground, and the powdery citron-yellow 

 colouring matter sifted out of it. Besides the yellow tints and 

 shades, it gave, with the addition of salts of iron, various shades 

 of grey, brown and drab. 



Black oaks would doubtless be planted oftener for shade and 

 ornament but that there are so many other beautiful oaks to 

 choose from. In the wild they are noble ornaments to the natural 

 landscape. 



For my giant black oak on the hillside I have developed 

 a kind of personal regard that surprises me. It is the result of 

 getting acquainted with the tree at successive seasons of the 

 year. It has taken on individuality. It ought to have a personal 

 name, not merely its tribal cognomen. I have learned to read 

 the answers to my questions. I have acquired, therefore, the 

 rudiments of a new language — for tree language is a code of signs 

 which anybody can learn. It is astonishing how much of inter- 

 esting personal and family history a tree will freely give in one 

 year of friendly intercourse. 



The Turkey Oak (Quercus CatesbcFi, Michx.) grows most 

 abundantly, and reaches 60 feet in height, in the high lands 

 bordering bays and river mouths, along the coasts of South 

 Carolina and Georgia. It follows the Gulf coast to Louisiana, but 

 is rare west of Florida. It is an important fuel in the regions 

 it inhabits, but is little known to lumbermen. Generally a 

 small tree, 20 to 35 feet high, it may be distinguished from tlu' 



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