THE OAKS
Perhaps as a family this group of trees is more uniformly valuable than any other found in North America.
They represent all that is the best among trees, being strong, hardy, long-lived, and valuable as timber.
There are oaks in Europe a thousand years old, but of course we have no records that go back so far.
It is a difficult tree to kill, because, when cut down or burned, a large number of healthy shoots grow from the stump or roots, and make a rapid second growth. The bark of all oaks contains tannin, and in the past our principal supply came from these trees. The old-fashioned method was to fell the tree, strip off the bark and leave the wood on the ground to decay. Oak lumber is now so valuable that this waste has been largely stopped.
White Oak Group.—The oaks all bear simple leaves which vary greatly. They may be divided into two groups. The white oak group all bear leaves with rounded lobes, no bristles, and ripen their acorns the first fall after blossoming. They rarely bear acorns before the age of twenty years. The second group has pointed lobes, each lobe ending in a bristle and do not ripen their acorns until the end of the second season.
Among the first group are the white oak proper, post or iron oak, mossy cup, chestnut oak, and swamp white oak. In the second group are the red, pin, scarlet and black oak, black jack, shingle, willow, and Spanish oaks.
White Oak.—One of the most common and best known members of the family, slow growing, sturdy, hardy, and beautiful. Acorns sweet compared with others. Leaves six to eight inches long, turning to beautiful shades of red in the fall, finally to a brown, and a large proportion remaining on all winter.
This tree is little affected by temporary weather changes. In the latitude of New York spring may have come and the maples be in full leaf, but the white oak shows no sign. Lawns are mowed, and finally, about June 1st, out come the oak leaves, steadily growing without regard to late cold snaps or hot days. During the summer a prolonged drought occurs. The leaves of the maple turn yellow and fall. Not so the oak; it goes right on about its business of growing green leaves and acorns, until the appointed time in the fall.
The maple leaves have all fallen and the trees are ready for winter.
The oak goes right on, as steadily as a clock, doing its work, apparently oblivious to such insignificant things as weather changes.
This is the character of the tree throughout—steady, reliable, and strong.
The wood is hard, durable, and valued in many trades. The best barrels for tight cooperage are made of it. Floors and interior trim, furniture, cabinet work, ship building, and the making of farming implements and wagons are all more or less dependent on it. The mission style of furniture is made almost exclusively from it; so is office furniture. Quartered oak is a form of lumber obtained by a special method of cutting.
In most trees when cut into lumber may be seen a series of lines radiating from the centre, and running in almost straight lines to the outside. They are called medullary rays, and are much more in evidence in some woods than others. They are particularly noticeable in oak. These rays are plates of flattened cells, and are usually much harder than the rest of the wood.
Fig. 243. Four methods of quartering
The object of quartering oak is to bring these rays to the surface of the board at as small an angle as possible, so that they will spread over the surface and give an added beauty to the grain. This is accomplished in one way by cutting the boards radially as shown in [Fig. 243] (a). There is much waste in this method, and other methods less wasteful, but not as satisfactory, from the beauty standpoint, are shown at b, c and d.
Mossy Cup or Bur Oak.—So called from the form of the cup of the acorns. It ends in a heavy fringe which nearly covers the acorn proper—hence the name mossy cup.
The leaf somewhat resembles the white oak, having rounded lobes but a different outline.
Wood is hard, heavy, and strong, and is used for the same purposes as white oak. Found throughout the country east of the Rocky Mountains, but reaches its greatest development in the Ohio Valley.
Chestnut Oak.—Found from Maine to Alabama and west to Kentucky and Tennessee.
Wood heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained and durable in contact with the soil. Bark is strong with tannic acid. Acorn, long and oval, sweet and a favourite with the squirrels.
Two or three varieties of this tree are recognized.
Post or Iron Oak.—Along with the black and black jack oaks found on bleak and sandy plains, especially in Texas, but extends as far north as Massachusetts.
Leaves thick, leathery, and much darker in colour than the white oak. Wood used for ties, fencing and fuel.
Swamp White Oak.—Eastern United States. Favours wet localities and swamps, and reaches a height of a hundred feet.
Wood about as heavy as white oak, but inclined to check in seasoning. Used for same general purposes as white oak. Acorns sweet and white, about an inch long.
The Red Oak Group: Red Oak.—Tree reaches a height of a hundred and forty feet. Found from Maine to Georgia and as far west as Kansas. Grows more rapidly than white oak and has smoother bark. Acorns large with a shallow cup and very bitter. Wood darker than white oak, of a reddish brown colour, heavy, hard, and strong.
Used for furniture and interior finish. Has a tendency to check in drying.
Scarlet Oak.—Leaf more deeply indented than red oak. A very tall and beautiful tree with wood slightly heavier than red oak, strong and hard.
Acorns, like all of this group, remain on the tree the first winter, ripening the second fall. They are smaller than those of the red oak and the cup is not as shallow. It encloses a third or more of the nut, whose kernel is white. The name is taken from the brilliant colouring of the fall foliage.
Pin Oak.—Leaf form similar to scarlet oak and often mistaken for it by the beginner, but is smaller, and other features of the tree distinguish it. The acorns are small, about half an inch long, with a broad flat base, light brown and striped. The branching habit of the tree gives it the name. The great number of small slender branches, especially in winter, is very noticeable. Sometimes called swamp Spanish oak because of its fondness for wet places. Wood brown, hard, strong, and heavier than red and scarlet oaks.
It is being planted largely now as a permanent shade tree and grows rapidly during its earlier years.
Black Oak, Yellow Oak.—Name derived from the bark, which is very dark. Yellow is the colour of the inner bark, hence the second name. Foliage varies, is thick, leathery and shiny, of a dark green colour.
Acorn is smaller than the red oak and often striped. Has yellow and bitter kernel.
Wood as heavy as pin oak, forty-four pounds to the cubic foot, strong and hard.
Used for fuel and for a yellow dye made from the inner bark.
Black Jack or Barren Oak.—Often found in company with the black oak on wind-swept, barren plains. Leaf very coarse and crude in both form and texture, having three lobes and a tapering base. These two trees frequently mix or hybridize, and, while not always things of beauty, they grow where other trees cannot live and should be recommended for their hardiness.
Wood even heavier than black oak, but, as the tree is small, it is used chiefly for firewood and the making of charcoal.
Willow Oak.—Foliage resembles the weeping willow. A southern tree, but will grow as far north as New York. Acorns ripen at end of second season, are small, with flat, wide base and shallow cup.
Kernel yellow and bitter.
Wood reddish brown, heavy, and strong.
Tree is popular in the South as an interesting shade tree.
Laurel Oak.—Name derived from the leaves, which are in shape similar to the mountain laurel, but lack its shiny lustre. A tree of the Middle West or Ohio Valley. Acorns, small and half enclosed by the cup; ripen second season.
Wood heavy and hard, checks in drying.
Used for shingles and rough construction.
Sometimes called shingle oak.
[LVII]
TREES WITH SIMPLE LEAVES
Beech is a beautiful tree with light gray bark, handsome foliage and valuable hard wood.
The seed is buckwheat-shaped, small and sweet. One of our most handsome shade trees, and although only one species is native to the United States, nurserymen have developed special varieties known as weeping beech and purple or copper beech. The European beech is also frequently planted on lawns and in parks. Its foliage is darker and has indentations so shallow that the leaf apparently has only a wavy outline.
Wood is hard, tough, fine-grained and takes a high polish. Used for the stocks of planes, handles, farming implements, and for some kinds of furniture.
The beech tree is supposed to be impervious to lightning, and recent experiments show that it offers considerable resistance to an electric current.
Birch.—The indentations of the beech are shallow and concave, while the birch leaf is known as double serrate, or double toothed, the teeth being themselves toothed. Five varieties are known in the Eastern states, black, red, yellow, white, and gray.
Black Birch, Sweet Birch.—The tree familiar to boys because of its aromatic bark, which contains salicylic acid used in treating cases of rheumatism. A large forest tree with handsome foliage, a very fine-winged seed and valuable wood. Heavy, hard, fine-grained, and takes a high polish. Used for wheel hubs, and the manufacture of furniture.
Red Birch.—Found in swamps and along rivers, especially in the South. Leaves smaller than black birch and wood much lighter in weight, but close-grained and strong. Used for furniture and wooden ware.
Yellow Birch.—A northern tree, growing a hundred feet high in northern New York and Canada. Leaves similar to black birch, but its bark is very different. The bark of the black birch is very dark, while that of yellow birch is of a silvery, yellowish gray, characteristic birch bark.
Wood heavy, hard, and similar to black birch. Used for the same general purposes.
White Birch, Canoe Birch, or Paper Birch.—Noted for its remarkable bark. White on the young trees, darker on old ones. Comes off in several distinct paper-like layers. Well known to ancient writers and used by them for paper. It contains a resinous oil which accounts for its water-resisting qualities so well known in the Indian birch-bark canoe. The inner bark contains starch and in the extreme north it is sometimes mixed with other foods. The sap may be used for making sugar. Wood is light brown and light weight but hard, strong, and close-grained. Used for shoe-lasts, fuel, and spools.
Gray Birch, Aspen-Leaved Birch.—Sometimes called white birch. The bark is white but patched with black and does not come off in layers as readily nor separate so easily from the wood as white birch.
A smaller tree with foliage that moves as freely in the wind as the aspen.
Leaf form very peculiar; a long thin stem, broad flat base, and long tapering outline, double serrate. A persistent little tree, very hardy and difficult to kill.
Wood is light and soft, close-grained but weak. Used for pulp, fuel, spools, and hoops.
Hop Hornbeam, Ironwood.—A little tree with delicate birch-like foliage and wood of great hardness. The name hop is derived from the fruit cluster bearing the seeds, which resembles the hop. The bark is in remarkable contrast to the foliage, being deeply furrowed and smooth, as if a smooth skin were drawn over powerful muscles.
The wood weighs over fifty pounds to the cubic foot, is tough, close-grained, hard and will take a high polish. Used for mallets, tool handles, and levers.
Hornbeam or Blue Birch.—A small tree with dark gray or bluish bark. Leaves similar to ironwood, but narrower. Wood weighs forty-five pounds to the cubic foot, hard and strong, similar to ironwood and used for the same purposes.
Elm, White or American.—The well-known shade tree of the North. Leaf is lop-sided, one side being considerably larger than the other, double serrate. Aside from being a beautiful shade tree, the wood is very valuable in several trades, being heavy, hard, strong, and tough. It does not split easily and is valued for such critical places as wheel hubs and saddles. Used in cooperage, and supply nearly exhausted.
Red Elm, Slippery Elm.—Red from the dark brown colour of its wood and slippery from the character of the inner bark. The slippery elm of commerce is made from this, which sufficiently explains its character.
Leaves are larger, coarser, and rougher than white elm and wood is heavy, hard, close-grained and tough. Used for ties, fence posts, and agricultural implements.
Rock Elm, Cork Elm.—Rock from the nature of the soil it is particularly fond of—rocky cliffs or hills—cork from the corky ridges which appear on the branches. A valuable timber tree but found in limited quantities. The wood is unlike the red and white elms in that it will take a high polish. Hard and tough, close-grained but easily worked. Used for cabinet work, farming implements, ties, and to some extent for bridge timbers.
Basswood, Linden.—A large timber tree of the Northern states and Canada. Its flowers are very sweet and attract the bees to such an extent that it is sometimes called the "bee tree." It has several varieties, as the small-leaved linden of the South, the silver linden, weeping silver linden, etc.
Leaves are heart-shaped, serrate, and lop-sided. A valuable shade tree. Wood is soft, weak, even-grained, does not split easily. The favourite wood for pyrography because of its white colour, freedom from pitch, etc. Used for boxes of wagons, wooden ware, and to some extent for furniture making.
Holly.—A broad-leaved evergreen. Leaves and berries used as Christmas decorations. A southern tree found as far north as Long Island. Wood very light in colour, but hard and close-grained. Takes a high polish. Used in cabinet work and engraving.
Cherry, Wild or Black.—The cabinet wood in common use is from this tree, although several varieties are known to botanists. The wild cherry of the roadside in the East, but a large forest tree west of the Mississippi, especially from Kansas to Texas. Wood a beautiful reddish brown, close-grained, strong, and will take a high polish. Used in cabinet work, interior of houses, and for car finish.
Tulip, White Wood, Yellow Poplar.—The last name is incorrect, as the tree is not a poplar. White wood is also inaccurate, as the only part of the wood that is white is the sap wood. A member of the magnolia family found throughout the East but rare in New England. Has a peculiar leaf with four points, smooth, shiny, and distinctive. Flowers the size and colour of a yellow or orange-coloured tulip. Wood greenish yellow, light, soft, brittle, free from knots, and inclined to warp more than white pine, for which it is now being substituted. Used for many purposes, including cabinet work, interior finish, panels, etc.
Sweet Gum, Red Gum, Liquid Amber.—Like the tulip, a large, handsome tree found throughout the East. Leaves have five fingers resembling a starfish, seeds produced in seed balls about an inch in diameter. The seed itself is very small.
Wood a beautiful reddish brown with handsome grain, heavy but soft, brittle, weak, warps and winds badly.
Used to some extent in interior finish and in wood turning.
Chestnut.—The well-known tree of the East. Wood light and open-grained, soft, but very durable in contact with the soil, hence its use for ties and fence posts. Has beautiful grain and takes a good polish. Used for furniture.
A fungous disease is rapidly destroying this tree in the East.
Sycamore, Buttonball, Buttonwood.—Sycamore is incorrect. This is the American plane, a near relative of the European plane tree. Buttonball is derived from the shape of the seed pods, which are round, an inch or more in diameter, and stay on the tree during the winter.
This is the tree which sheds part of its bark each year, giving the trunk a mottled appearance.
Wood is hard and heavy, has an interesting grain and takes a good polish. Used for interior finish of houses.
Poplar.—A large family of trees of which nine members are recognized in North America. All have light and soft woods of little value except for making boxes, packing cases and wood pulp.
Their value lies in hardiness, quick growth and ability to cover burned areas so as to give a forest cover in localities where other trees will not grow. The balsam poplar, or balm of Gilead, formerly planted extensively as a shade tree, reaches well up into Alaska, and in the Yukon territory reaches a height of a hundred feet. Immense forests cover hundreds of square miles. As a shade tree it possesses one or two good qualities, quick growth and an indifference to the smoke and grime of cities. It is otherwise not very desirable.
Dogwood.—A small tree with brilliant flowers in the spring and bright red berries in the fall. Wood heavy, hard, tough, and close-grained. Used for hubs of wheels, tool handles, and mallets.