30 
LIVE OAK. 
ate the kernel, which, though not agreeable to the taste, is less rough and 
bitter than that of many other species. The fruit is sometimes very abun- 
dant, and it germinates with such ease that if the weather is rainy at the 
season of its maturity, many acorns are found upon the trees with the 
radicle unfolded. 
The bark upon the trunk is blackish, hard, and thick. The wood is 
heavy, compact, fine-grained, and of a yellowish color, which deepens 
as the tree advances in age. The number and closeness of the concenürical 
circles evince the slowness of its growth. As it is very strong, and incom- 
parably more durable than the best White Oak, it is highly esteemed in 
ship building, and is consumed not only in the country which produces it, 
but still more extensively in the Northern States. From its great durabi- 
lity when perfectly seasoned, it is almost exclusively employed for the 
upper part of the frame. To compensate its excessive weight it is joined 
with the Red Cedar, which is extremely light and equally lasting. 
The Live Oak does not afford large timber ; but its wide and branching 
summit makes amends for this disadvantage by furnishing a great number 
of knees, of which there is never a sufficient quantity in the dock-yards. 
The vessels built at New York and Philadelphia, with the upper frame 
of Red Cedar and Live Oak, and the lower timbers of White Oak, are as 
durable as those constructed of the best materials in Europe. Brekel, 
whom I have already quoted, says that the best tree-nails are of Live Oak ; 
but at present it is replaced, in the Southern States, by the Locust and 
the heart of the Long-leaved Pine. 
In the South, particularly at Charleston and Savannah, this species is used 
for the naves and fellies of heavy wheels, for which it is far superior to the 
White Oak ; it is more proper, also, for screws and for the cogs of mill- 
wheels. 
The bark is excellent for tanning, but is only accidentally employed. 
Besides the Live Oak timber exported to England, great quantities 
are used in ship-building in the United States, particularly at Boston, 
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. The consumption has trebled 
within twenty years, in consequence of the immense development of 
American commerce. Hence the price has doubled, and the species is 
rapidly diminishing. The clearing of the islands for the culture of cotton, 
which they yield of a superior quality, has contributed greatly to its 
destruction. It is already difficult to procure sticks of considerable size 
in the Southern States, and they are sought on the western coast of East 
Florida between the St. Mary and the St. John. From St. Augustine to 
the Cape the species is rarer ; but we are informed that it abounds on the 
shores of West Florida, whither the English of the Bahama Islands resort 
for supplies. 
As the Live Oak, from the peculiarities of its constitution, is multiplied 
