IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
191 
pheric or top-shaped, scales triangular-lanceolate, appressed 
or the upper slightly squarrose, glabrate. 
In eastern Iowa this oak is one of the principal trees of 
the young upland woods. The trees usually run from six 
to eighteen inches in diameter and twenty-five to forty 
feet high. Large trees are infrequent, owing to the fact 
that they have been removed and the time is too short 
since the prairie fires have been stopped or since the pri- 
meval trees have been destroyed for the new trees or the 
second growth ones to attain any considerable size. The 
wood is as heavy as the white oak, but not so strong or 
durable, and is coarse-grained. This oak makes up the 
bulk of the cord wood on the market in those portions o 
the state where coal is not a local output. The farmers 
also draw their supplies of firewood from the young groves 
of this species, especially since much has been winter- 
killed during the unseasonable winter of 1 898— ? 99 and was 
seasoned standing. For the wood market the long, slen- 
der trees, the prevailing form in the groves, readily yields 
to the woodman’s ax to form the conventional market 
wood. For the best results, the tree, if growing, should be 
felled about a year before market time, cut into four-foot 
lengths, and if necessary, split to convenient sizes and 
corded. When the wood is dry it is then delivered on the 
market to the consumers. The final preparation consists 
in sawing the cord sticks twice and splitting to convenient 
sizes. When dry the wood readily burns and gives much 
heat, but is not reckoned as a lasting wood. In those por- 
tions of the state where coal is an output this oak is much 
used for coal props. The young trees are selected and 
prepared in the same manner as in making cord w r ood, 
except the length of the pieces is about three and a half 
feet, but varies according to the thickness of the coal vein. 
These pieces having the ends sawed transversely are placed 
upright in the coal mines as the coal is removed to prevent 
the falling of the roof of the mine. In the rural districts 
a limited use of the oak for fencing may be observed, but 
such fences are short lived. The scarlet oak is sometimes 
used for foundation piling. 
