> LAKE STATES FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION 
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RESEARCH NOTE LS-12 
Cordwood Heights of Mixed Oak 
Growing on Grayling and Rubicon Soils 
Mixed stands of oak growing on glacial 
drift of deep coarse sand occupy about 2 mil- 
lion acres of former pine lands in the central 
portion of the Lake States. These soils, which 
have a low water-holding capacity, are poor 
for oak growth, and the principal timber prod- 
ucts being produced are pulpwood and pallet 
stock material. Extensive soil series common- 
ly associated with these poor-quality oak 
stands include the well-drained Podzols and 
Brown Podzolic sands such as Grayling,’ Rubi- 
con, and Graycalm sands — all of which have 
no texturally developed B horizon. This paper 
presents cordwood heights for oak on these 
soils by d.b.h. (tree diameter at breast 
height). These heights can be used for deter- 
mining volumes from diameter tallies on tim- 
ber cruises and other forest sampling work. 
The cordwood height—d.b.h. data were 
obtained from a study underway on the 
growth of nine mixed oak stands growing on 
Grayling and Rubicon sands located in five 
different counties of northern Lower Michi- 
gan. The number of 8-foot bolts to a 4-inch 
usable top in each tree 5 inches or more in 
d.b.h. was obtained for a 1,000-tree sample. 
1 Grayling sand is a well-drained Brown Podzolic 
soil developed in deep sand with a very thin 
grayish brown leached horizon (Az), a yellowish 
brown subsoil (Bix ). and a pale brown sand C 
horizon. Rubicon sand is a well-drained Podzol 
with 2 to 10 inches of a light gray horizon 
(A,). a dark brown subsoil horizon (Byi;r ), and 
pale brown sand C horizon. Graycalm is similar 
to Grayling except for thin %- to 1-inch bands 
About two-thirds of these trees were growing 
on Grayling and one-third on Rubicon sand.’ 
The oak species occurring in the stands 
studied were white oak (Quercus alba L.) and 
oaks in the red and black oak group which are 
not easily identified by species in this latitude 
because of overlapping leaf, acorn, and other 
tree characteristics. They include northern 
pin oak (Q. ellipsoidalis E. J. Hill), black oak 
(Q. velutina Lam.), red oak (Q. rubra L.), 
and possibly scarlet oak (Q. coccinea 
Muenchk.). A working term name for them 
might be “other oak” or “‘ellipsoidalis com- 
plex” until more precise taxonomic investiga- 
tions are made. The oak species were about 
equally divided between the white and other 
oaks. Other trees that were found in scattered 
numbers include aspen (Populus tremuloides 
Michx. and P. grandidentata Michx.), red 
maple (Acer rubrum L.), and jack pine 
(Pinus banksiana Lamb.). The stands were 
relatively even-aged, ranging from about 50 
to 65 years. Diameters ranged from 1 to 14 
inches, with an occasional oak 16 to 20 inches. 
Basal area densities ranged from about 50 to 
80 square feet per acre. 
of loamy sand below 42 inches. The relation- 
ships of these soils to others in this region are 
described in “Soils of the North Central Region 
of the United States.” No. Cent. Region. Pub. 
76, and Univ. Wis. Agri. Expt. Sta. Bul. 544. 1960. 
2 The soil under each sample stand was identi- 
fied by Dr. E. P. Whiteside, Soil Science Depart- 
ment, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 
Mich. 
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> U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
