THE OAKS 75 
times at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson measuring seven feet in 
diameter. The acorns are sweet and are eagerly sought 
after by the squirrels. 
The wood is durable in exposed places and is used for 
cooperage, railroad ties, and fencing. 
34, The Live Oak. No list of American oaks would 
be complete without the live oak. This is a southern 
tree and is remarkable in many ways. Its 
leaf has no indentations, remains green all 
winter, and is thick and leathery. 
The wood is extremely heavy, a cubic 
foot weighing nearly sixty pounds. It is 
as hard as it is heavy, and although it takes 
a high polish and has a fine grain, it soon 
dulls the edge of a tool. 
Before the age of steel, when all ships fre. 89. Leaf of 
were wooden, it was much used in ship- Live Oak 
building, and the government bought large tracts of land 
where live oak grew abundantly, so that the United 
States navy should never lack the necessary timber. 
It grows along the Atlantic coast, south from Vir- 
ginia, and along the Gulf to Texas. 
