CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 171 



November i, 1915, the largest oak tree in the world is to be found in 

 San Benito. " This lordly tree measures thirty-seven feet six inches in 

 circumference. The natives, who declare that it produces a ton of 

 acorns every year, take great pride in it." The note remarks that this 

 tree surpasses that which previously was supposed to be the largest 

 and which was known as the famous Hooker oak of Chico, California, 

 named in 1872, which rises to a height of 105 feet, but is only 21 feet 

 8 inches in circumference. 



The pores in the spring-wood are large and regular. The medullary 

 rays, which are larger and bolder than in any other oak, are very 

 numerous and continue, more so than in other varieties, in a direct hne 

 from the heart to the circumference. The converted wood displays, 

 therefore, when quarter sawn, a larger and bolder figure or clash than 

 it is possible to produce from any other variety of oak. 



Oak, Austrian. Quercus pedunculata, Ehrh., and Q. sessiliflora, Sm. 

 Croatia, Slavonia. 



Austrian oak is mainly yielded by the forests of Slavonia and Croatia, 

 and therefore would be more correctly termed Hungarian oak ; it is 

 conveyed by rail to Fiume and shipped thence. 



Trees of large dimensions, straight and clean in growth, and possessing 

 lofty branchless boles, are obtained from these forests. A number of 

 the latter, whether owned by the State, by public bodies, or by private 

 persons, are administered by the State, which ensures proper manage- 

 ment, including regulation of the felling and due regeneration of the 

 stock. The result of this enlightened system, which is followed by 

 a number of Continental countries, but not, unhappily, by this, 

 is that there will be a considerable maintenance of the supply of 

 Hungarian oak. Trees of large size will decrease in number in the future, 

 and are not expected to be available twenty years hence. The cause 

 of the depletion of these large trees is twofold. On the one hand, such 

 trees are of great age, and therefore cannot be replaced by others in a 

 few years. On the other hand, modern German methods of forestry 

 determine that the trees shall be felled at the moment when they re- 

 present the maximiuTi profit (as measured by interest on capital, and 

 condition of the remaining forest) ; and this moment is reached in all 

 European timber trees long before they have obtained impressive 

 dimensions. Yet at present very large oak trees are still found in 

 Slavonian forests, which also include a wealth of fine old ash, elm, lime, 

 and hornbeam trees, and are so old as to have some claims to be regarded 

 as truly primeval. 



Trees of such outstanding quality as regards height, girth, and clean- 

 ness of stem are not, however, confined to such areas as these Slavonian 



