OAK FAMILY 



Hartford was believed to be several hundred years old. 

 " When the lii'st settlers were clearing" their land the Indians 

 begged that it might be spared. 'It has been the guide of 

 our ancestors for centuries,' said tlie\', ' as to the time of 

 planting our corn ; when the lea\'es are the size of a mouse's 

 ears, then is the time to put the seed into the grduml.' The 

 Indians' request was granted and the tree, afterward becom- 

 ing the custodian of the lost charter, became famous for all 

 time. It fell in a windstorm, August 21, 1S56, and so deeply 

 was it venerated that, at sunset on the day of its fall, the bells 

 of the city were tolled and a band of music played funeral 

 dirges over its ruins." 



The ^^'hite (Jak like the Black ^Valuut is passing and unless 

 replanted will ere long disappear. Two causes are at work 

 to bring this about. First, its valuable timber which marks 

 it for the axe ; and second, the sweetness of its nuts which 

 causes them to be eaten by the wild creatures, while the 

 bitter nuts of other oaks are allou'cd to germinate undis- 

 turbed. 



The White (*)ak hybridizes freely with the Bur, the Post, and 

 the Chestnut C)aks. 



POST OAK 



Qiu'rttis mhior. 



A tree reaching the height of fift\- or sixty feet, often a shrub. 

 Grows on dry sand\- soil, (.r gravelly uplands. Rajiges from Massa- 

 cbLisetts to southern New \ork and Michigan, southward to Florida, 

 and is the most abundant oak of central Texas. 



Bark. — Graxish broi\ n. deeply fissured into liroad scalv ridges. 

 3ranchlets at first co\-ered with thiirk N'ellow brown tomentuui, soon 

 they become light orange or reddish brown, still down\ , finally they 

 are dark or gray brown . 



H'OOil. — Brown, sapwood paler brown ; hea\\-, hard, close-grained. 

 durable in contact with soil. I'scd for fuel, fencing, and railway 

 ties. Sp. gr., 0.S367 ; weight of cu. ft., 52. 14 lbs. 



U'uih'r B/ii/s. — Chestnut brown, ovate, downy, about one-eighth 

 of an inch long. 



332 



