FOREST TREES. 135 
considered not less valuable in the manufacture of 
agricultural implements and machinery, and is more 
durable, as has been proved in its use for posts. In 
one respect it is inferior; its pores are so open as to 
render it unfit for casks designed to contain oils or 
spirits. It is a fine tree for landscape ornament, and 
its cultivation as a timber tree is unhesitatingly 
recommended, 
3. Quercus obtusiloba—Post Oak. 
Leaves, grayish, downy underneath, pale and rough 
above, thickish, sinuately lobed, the upper lobes the 
largest; cup, saucer-shaped, naked, one-third the 
length of the ovoid acorn. 
In the Atlantic States, the Post Oak grows mostly 
upon poor, dry soils, and is said to be most abundant 
in Maryland and Virginia. It is common in Central 
and Southern Hlinois, on what are, or rather were, 
called Post Oak barrens. These are tracts of land 
with an undulating surface, a soil of yellow, clayey 
loam, and, at the first settlement of the country, 
covered with a scattered growth of Post Oak, inter- 
mingled with White Oak and the Shellbark and 
Mockernut Hickory. It is seldom more than forty 
or fifty feet high, with a diameter of twelve to eigh- 
teen inches. It is much inclined to branch, even 
when closely grown, and rarely furnishes timber of 
considerable length. ‘The acorns are small, and very 
sweet. The wood is yellowish, strong and fine- 
grained, and more durable than the White Oak. It 
is consequently preferred for posts, wagon wheels, 
