Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. j*x5MX»sa*sowwts«*soa3ts^^ OCCASIONAL PAPER Ho, 27 April, 1932 SOUTHERN FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION E« L, Demmon, Director New Orleans, La. ■::% Ca 'in ^ 1^ -St V, ^ fiVn \ 'iP ^ y i-n r-'-o ^ 'u ' r* T> ”3 ■>•*‘0 *’ •:x> THE TREES OF THE BOTTOMLANDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA REGION Their distribution, occurrence by site and cover type, utilization in the Delta, and the distinguishing characteristics of the principal and most common species and groups of species » By Jo A« Putnam Junior Forester and Henry Bull Assistant Silviculturist This paper releases data gathered in current investigations at the South- ern Forest Experiment Station, and is subject to correction or modification following further investigation. 5 8 $ $ $ $ $ $ US $ $ $ $ $ 5 Table of Contents Page Introduction 1 CLASSIFICiiTION OF FOREST SITES IN THE DELTA 4 THE DELTA REGIONS OF LOUISIANA, ffiSSISSIPPI , ARKANSAS AND MSSOURI (Including Maps of the Delta Regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri) ip TABULAE OUTLINE OF TREE SPECIES FOUND IN THE BOTTOMLANDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIYER DELTA REGION — 16 EXPLANATION OF COLUMN HEADINGS IN TABULAR. OUTLINE 30 FOREST COYER TYPES IN THE DELTA BOTTOYIL/iNDS 33 FOREST TYPES AlH) SITES TO BE DISTINGIHSIIED IN TEE FOREST SURVEY OF TPE DELTA — — — 55 GENERAL L'TILIZA.TION AND MAIHJF.iCTUF.S OF HARDWOODS 58 \ ' THE PRDJCIPAL Sm MOST COIEviON SPECIES GROUTS OF SPECIES FOUND IN THE DELTA EOTTOMiA'TuS — — — — 65 SOUTHERN CYPRESS - Taxed .t i in d i s b i c hum (L. ) Richard 66 THE HICKORIES AND PECANS - Rafinesque 71 PECAN - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton 73 WATER HICKORY - Hicoria aquatica (Michaux f . ) Britton 77 ’’TERPACE” HICKORIES 79 SOUTHERN COTTOITWOOD ~ PcpuJ.us deltoidos virginiana (Custig. ) S'udw, — 84 BLACK WILLOW - Salix nigra Marshall 87 THE OAKS - Quorcus L. 89 ^ General Outline of the principal Groups 89 General Economic Importance and Utilization of the Oaks 92 Defects and Peculiarities Typical of the Oaks 108 Individual species: PIN OAK - Quercus palustris Muenchhausen 110 SHUMAR.D FED Oi^K - Quercus shumardii Buckley 112 NUTTiiLL OAK - Quercus nuttallii Palmer 115 i Page BLACK oak: - Quorcus velutina La Marck 120 SOUTHERN RED OAK - Quercus rubra L, 123 CHERRYB/P(K OAK - Qucrcus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe and Quercus rubra loucophylla Ashe 127 WATER OAK - Qucrcus nigra L. — — 032 WA.TER 0/iK - Qiiercus ohtusa Ashe 138 WILLOViT OAK - Quercus phellos Lo 141 LAUREL OAK - Q,uorcus laurifolia Michaux * — 146 SHIIJGLE OiiK - Quercus imbricario Michauz 148 LIVE OAIC - Quercus Yirginiana Miller 150 WHITE OiiK - Quercus alba L. 152 POST OAK - Quercus stellate Wangc and/or a variety and/or Q.uercus mississippiensi s Ashe — 156 BURR OiiK - Quorcus macro carpa Michaux 160 OVER GUP OiJC - Quercus lyrata Walter 162 COW 0/K - Quercus prinus L« (Swamp chestnut oak in Sudworth) — 166 CHIMQU/iRIN OAK - Quercus muehlenbergii Engelmann 170 THE ELCvIS - Ulmus L. 172 • HACKBERRY - Celt is laevigata Wi lid enow 177 RED - Liquidambar styraciflua L* — 180 THE GUMS - Nyssa L. 187 Individual species; TUPELO GUM - Nyssa aquatic a L. — 188 BLACK GUM - Nyssa sylvotica Marshall 192 THE ASHES - Eraxinus L. 196 RECOMflENDED REEERMCES ON DENDROLOGY 202 APPENDIX 204 ■ J J:'-*!; '. 'jOiam t iyi‘ I • .' ..f ; ‘ '■ ■■’•'■•••- • ■’’^V ; ■ '( t 1; I i } J ) i ■ ^ I I i i Intxo duct ion The bottomlands of the loiter Mississippi liver valley, or Delta, erterd from about Cape Girardeau, Missouri to the Gu3-f of Mexico, in a north-and-south belt varying from about 30 to 115 miles in width, and cover some 29,000,000 acre&i'^, Agricuilture (principally the growing of cotton) is well developed but strongly localized and more ©r loss confined to the better soils along the laxgcr rivers and bayous, and the Delta is still a very important forest region. It is often referred to as the bottomland hardwood region and it produces the bulk of the finest hardwood timber cut in this country. Cypress, the only important conifer, is also produced in great volume. The Delta has long been noted for the quantity and quality of its timber, yet was practically a virgin field to professional foresters until 1928. In the fallowing pages, an attempt is made to summarize briefly the infoimation thus far feollected by the Southern Forest Experiment Station concerning the numerous tree species found in the region, J. A, Putnam started this work in 1929 with a manusv^ript which has served as the foundation of the present report* The sections cn utilization, manufacture and economic considerations are entirely his work and have been taken fi'om his original manuscript after inc;king some minor changes. The help and cooperation of several members of the Station staff, especially G, H. Lentz and R. K, Winters, is acknowledged with gratitude. This report is designed to bo useful particularly to two groups, (1) foresters beginning work in the Delta, and (2) students of forestry. Both groups are presumed tc be well grounded in dendrology and complete, detailed descriptions of each species are thoreforo omitted. These can be found in the varicus standard v” T;er.nett , H. H, The Soils and Agriculture of tho Southern States, p. 314, The • Ma cmi llan Company, 1921. 1 dendrology texts (of which a short hibliography is given on page 202). Dis- tinguishing characteristics are given, however, wherever it is necessary or helpful in separating somewhat similar species. Each group is presumably unfamiliar with the topograx>hl-c chavfiotpa-lsti-rvs of the Delta region, hence a oLassifi cation of forest sites is presented and the nature of each site described. Maps of the Delta regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri are also presented, accompanied by a brief explanatory section. They should prove exceedingly useful. To understand the distribution and associations of the different species,, | a knowledge of the forest cover types is practically essential and a list and description.? of tentative types is accordingly given. The section on the utilization and manufacture of hardwoods in general will be found very helpful to- a better understanding of the notes on the utilize- I tipn of oach specios^ Erom a forester^ s viewpoint, utilization is of basic importance, i In the tabular outline (p. 16 et seg. ) , an attempt has been made to list | all species at present knowii definitely to occur in the Delta bottomlands. Several rathor obscure and pelativoly unimportant varieties of these species are, however, omitted, and several uncommon species have undoubtedly been over- looked, so that the outline is in no sense to be taken as a complete check list. The more important and the more common and iTidcly distributed species aih do- scribed in considerable detail in the last section (p, 65 et seq. ) . j It should be clearly understood that all information given in the j following pages was collected entirely within the Delta bottomlands and applies specifically and only to the Delta bottomlands. In some cases the information may apply equally well to other southern bottoffi.lanids or even to certain uplands ^ but such extensions have yet to bo worked oub in detail and none are even implicq 2 in thn following, notes end doscrlptions. The obserretlons on which this report - is based were mode principally in Lonisiana, next most abundantly in Arkansas, and tho fewest observations wore made in Mississippi and Missouri « The relative applicability of this report to the different states can bo judged accordingly* This is in no sense the final word on the subjoot and future amendments and additions will undoubtedly be nocessary; it merely reports our prosont knowledge, and after the :^ashion of the note always appendod to the description in financial advertisements of the properties, value, earnings, etc, of com- panics offering stocks or bonds for sale, it may b.o said 'that ”thc information given is obtained from reliable sources end is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed’^. 3 "•L/.SSIFICATION OF FOB2ST SITES Id TIIE DETTA The Delta comprises the prosont end forraor flood-plcins sippi River end the lover portions of a numbor of tributaries, sites may be classified end described as follows: I. First bottoms. of the Missis-’ The principal 1 • xi 1 d^ e s a a. River margins. 2 . Fl a.vs . 3. Washboerdy or huimaocky sites (including sites of indetonriinate or mixed charactor) . 4. Swamps. II. Second bottoms or terraces. 1. Ridges. ; Flats. 3. Washboardy or hummockj^ sites (including sites of indeterminate or mixed character). 4. SvTamps, III. Minor sites end topogrcphic features (occurring in both first end second bottoms). 1. Swags. 2. Drains or shallow sloughs* 3. Gullies, I. First bottoras.* First bottoms are the lowest-lying and most recently-formed areas of alluvial soil end are us^jally still subject to overflow. Drainage ditches "^First two paragraphs taken largely from H, Bennett, The Soils and Agri- culture of the Southern States, Macmillan Company, 1921, pp. 276 et seq. ) . 4 and levees may now, however, provcnt overflo?; on these, areas except in times of unusually high flood waters. " ^ . In first bottoms there has been little opportunity for weathering^ and alteration of the soil texture, due to their youth and to the more or less continual deposit of fresh material. Oxidation is retarded by the nearly continuous presence of an excess of moisture, producing grayish, mottled, pale-yellow and rusty-brown colors (in contrast to reddish, brownish and deep yellow colors of most well-drained, well-oxidized soils). In the Delta, the first bottom soils arc generally clays or silty clays but oc- casionally, on the more extensive frontlands, sands (usually very fine sands) occur. 1. Ridges are slight to moderate elevations (a few inches to several feet above tho prevailing ground level) that are the remnants of old stream banks. The soil may or may not be lighter in toxture than on the adjacent flats but it is always very much better drained. The soil is generally clay or silty clay but in one or more horizons is often much sandier or more silty than on the flats. The ridges ere the last parts of the bottoms to be submerged during floods and frequently they are never submerged at all except during exceptional floods, as in 1927. They are generally long, more or less curving or serpentine, and roughly parallel to existing water courses — sloughs, bayous end rivers. The present banks of all Gxisting water courses aro of. course also ridges and are known as ”frcntlands”. Frontlands, where extensive and fronting important, well- developed drainages, are the principal sites far agriculture. The term bridge” also includes the slope away from the frontland as far as the drain- age is affected. This slope nay extend 2 or 3 miles back from the highest part of the ridge in the case of the Mississippi Rivor frontlands but does 5 not usucilly oxtGnd.noro thcin q hundred ycxcls r.t nost in the case of the interior ridges. 1-e. Hiver nargins. Those include tho iiniaodiato riorgins or banlcs of th© larger rivers and streams having a definite current (as distinct from heyous “?7ith little or no current the sand or d^y bars and tiie banks of the cut-offs in uso by these rivers. The soil consists either, of alternate strata of sand and clay,- -of which the sand (very fine sand to coarse sand) is usually .the more important, or,,mre commonly, of deep deposits of sand (usually vG-ry fine sand). River margins include, the, portions of frontlands that face the, larger, active streams and are generally subject to overflow at every considerable rise in the river, since by their nature they are not and can not be protected by levees, but the highest river margins of such rivers as the Mississippi are above all but exceptional overflow, as in 192?, All land between a river and its levee is called batture lane. The bc-tture lends of tho .Mississippi are generally from ono-quarter nile to four miles wide. 2. Flats, These comprise the low, flat portions of the flood plains that lie .between the ridges and are the prodoriinant site of the first bot- toms. The soil is probably invariably clay or at best silty clay and varies from extremely tight, sticky, impervious clay to noderately pervious silty, clay. The latter , is usually underlain by one or more strata of fine sand. ^ Certain flats are subject to 'direct overflow to a dopth of,. from one to ten feet-from backwater ’from the principal streams in the ^ring where unpro- tected by lGveos,.,:,en ell flats, winter rains usually accumulato to a dopth of from a few inches to a foot .or more, often for long periods, bc-bween November and March, but from midsummer to early fall the flats are gonerally very dry. •• 5, Washboardy or hummocky sitos. These are made up of successive ridges and flats, each too narrow/, too irrogulrr cjicl in too sr:.all -unit areas to be considered a separate site. The distance bet -Teen the ridge crests and the flat troughs usually varies from 5 or .10 feet to 100 or 150 feet, and the corresponding difference in elevation is usually from a feu inches to tuo feet or no re. Instead of definite ridges, however, the higher parts of this site are often irregular isolated nour.ds or hunnocks. The soil in. both the ridge and flat parts is usually of the t^jpo found on ridges, but the flat parts are of course much nore poorly drained then, the ridge parts. The site as a whole is usually very wet and nushy during tlie winter. Sites of indeterminate or nixed f'.haracter, i.e., with characteristics of both ridge and flat yet not apparently either definitely washboerdy or hui:inocky, are also included here. 4, Swanps are generally basin-like depressions, usually enclosed by ridges, in which rain wqter stands to a depth of from two to six feet between late fall and early sunrier (and in which a depth of twenty feet or nore nay bo reached when flooded by backi^ater ) , Duilng the surmer and early fall the najority of swanps becone practically Ctj and even tho deepest swanps will dry out during exceptional drought years such as 1924, Swanr,s also include deep sloughs, which are abandoned bayou cours«3s, II, Second bottoms or terraces.* Second bofc tons (including temaces, benches, etc.) are old flood p.^.ains now standing above the influence of strean water (except occasionally during severe floods). Their average elevation is distinctly greatev than that of first bet tons. In second bottoms, due to their g^’eater age, usually bettor drainage ^irst two pa. -igi-ap the ^0'-: IS taken largely frou h. E, Bennett, bhern States, MacnilltUL Cenpany, 1921. pp, 271 £_.nd_Aae:i- et seg.y. 7 conditions, and freedom from overflow and additional deposition, chemical changes and alteration by erosional and percolating waters have resulted in producing many characteristics common to upland soils,. One can not assume, however, that such old alluvial soils are the same as the nearby upland soils that they may closely resemble, espocially where the drainage waters of the streams flow in part from regions having different upland soils. Even though the physical features are apparently identical, the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of such alluvium and nearby upland soils may be very different. The second bottom soils aro principally silty clay loams, silt loGmus, fine sandy loams and very fine sandy loams. The silt and fine sand fractions are most important and dry is of distinctly secondary importance. 1. Bldges have essentially the same origin as ridges in the first bottoms, but due to their greater and more variable age and the conseq[UGnt f ■ variably longer operation of modifying agencies, they are not so uniform. Some aro very flat-surfacod and extensive (e.g. , in east central Arkansas) and others have an irregular, somewhat rolling, more dissected surface. Some very high ’^second” bottoms are properly third or fourth (or oven higher) ' bottoms, e.g., Macon. Eidge in northeastern Louisiana. For convenience these high terraces acre designated as ’’second or higher bottoms^^ in referring to them as a habitat of various tree species. Hidgos are the prevailing eleva- tions and the predominant si to in second bottoms just as flats are the pre- dominant site in first bottoms. The soils are largely if not entiroly loams (silty clay loams, clay loams, fine sandy loams, very fine sandy loams, etc.) and they aro moderately f?ell to very well drained, 2, Flats arc the areas het;7Geri the ridges. The soils aro of essen- tially the same texture as on the adjacent ridges and the principal differ- ence is therefore due to difference in elevation. The flats are poorly or very poorly drained end the soils are grayer and more mottled than on the ridges, due to their poorer oxidation and frocueri: i7ater-loggGd condition. The sub-soil is gen orally yqtj iiuporvioiao and frequently approachos a hard- pen. Winter rains usually QccuiJiulcts in pools or shoots just as in first bottom flats. Wnshboardy or hecomcclcy sites rxo of the seno nature as in first bottoms but the higlier pax-ts r.ro probably more apt to bo definite ridges than irregular humnocks and the soils are loss idushy and more similar to those of adjacent ridges and flats. Sites of indeterminate or xhLxed charac- ter, i,e, , 77ith characteristics of both ridge and flat yot not cpparont-ly either definitely washboordy cr huraaociry, are rJ.30 included here. . 4. S77amps aro depressions in which water us^aally stands from one to four feet deep during the winter mantlis but which generally are practically dry in late summer and fall. III. Minor sites end topographic features (occurring in both first and s 3 oond bo 1 1 on s i 1, Swags are small local pockets or depressions and usually occur on ridges. They quickly accumulate ivcter from heavy rains and as quickly dry out during fair weather. They are important principally because they fre- quently account for the presence on rather well-drained sites of trees typi- cally found only on poorly-drained sites. 2, Drains or shallow sloughs arc old, well-f illed-in bayou bods that have the appearance of narror:, elongated flats and tlic site chcrac- ti sties of flats. They are usually distinguished on ridge lands. 3, Gullies are tributaries, iTxOst coriimon in first bet torts, that cen- nect flats whth the smaller bayous. They traverse ridge lands and have a V- ohaped profile (vciy disconcerting to these who have to wade across them). They vary from, two to tr/enty or thirty feet in depth depending on their age, the width of the ridge land traii’ersed and the elevation of the bayou front. / Except ulien the bcyou is high ancl. hacks up in the gully, the latter usually has a goorl current. Gullies are essentially^ young strooias or bayous. They are usually diy/ in niclsuraaer and early fall THE DELTA REGIONS 0? LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, AHIAKSAS AND 'kESSOULI Tlic Deltr: rcgioriS of Louisicno, Mississipx3i , Arkansas and Missoirri and their appro xii;in to diYision into first 'bcttoins, second ’bottons cr ter- races and locssial uplands or very high torracos, cro shonn on outline naxos, Figures’ 1-4, These principal geologic su’odiTisions are ossontially prmary forest sites caid theref or o strongly correlated T/itli forest covor typos or associations and the distribution of individual species, Tho divisions on the maps aro necessarilxr diagrarnoatic and do not pretend to be technically accurato in detail fron the viev'x'.oint of a geologist or soil scientist. Prepared by J, A. Putnan, tlioy are based not only on caroful oxarlnaticn of nil available geologic and soil naps of tlie regions but also on his 'E?ide personal Icno "Pledge of the greater portion cf the area, Tlic movS therefore give a sufficiently accurate general picture to be extrcnely useful adjuncts to the discussions of the distribution and occurrence of forest types and species. The actual forest conditions prevailing over the areas shovr. on the naps agree as closely and consistently as possible uith the relations bc- ti;7oen the forest cover end the principal geologic subdivisions or prinarxd forest sites indicated in tho text. For c precise dendro logical or ecological study, nmj of the snaller subdivisions uould necesserily have to bo rechecked. In any case, a study cf larger end nore detailed naps to supplenent the snail diagrannatic naps and the site descriptions is advisable in order to grasp the full significance cf the subject. Without the expert advice cf a goologist or soil scientist foriiliar with the Lolta, the technically correct separation of first bottons fron 11 second bottons is iripossiblc ir. cortcin locolitios, e<,g,. , ot the western mrgin of the Delta in extreino southern Louisiana and in the northanm. yjort of the Delta in Mississippi. The subdivisions are necessarily rather arbi- trary in such cases. The distinction between very Id.gli te?n:*acG3 (or third or higher bottoms) and true loessial uplands is also uncertain and all areas definitely hi^ier than second bottons are according.ly arbitrarily grouped together on the naps. The forest cover of the two classes of land is very similar and from that point of view it makes little difference to which class any specific area belongs. The 'narrow belt of ’^loessial upland or high terrace” in northorn Louisiana' (Macon Kidge ) is Lcthodly entirely high terrace (third and/or higher bottom). Lecegnition of such "upland” areas is necessary because ma.ny of than fern pr oninent ”i^slan ds^ within , the Delta region of Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri and because those that ore situated at the ri]argin have at least, as niich in connon with the Delta as with the adjacent pine uplands. They support a distinctive, high- grade hardwood forest cover, whereas the Delta is othervase bounded by pine or at best pine -hardwood uplands of a much' different nature (except in southeiTL Louisiana where it is bounded by j^rairie end ii^rsh). The compara- tively wide belt of loessial upla^ indicated on the eastern border of the Delta in central Louisiana and in Mississippi is not a pert of the Delta, It is shown because it is forested with hardwoods and because both the soil Gild forest cover are similar to that found_on many ** islands” in the Delta. Cn the map of .Arkansas, the 1x3 avy solid line drawn to tlie south- western corner of the state is the approximate northern boundary of an upland pine region in which the Delta' tyxio of bottomland is unusually im- portant, due principally to the inclusion of the Ouachita and Saline Favors and their larger tributaries and somewhat less to the inclusion of the pod 1 Cj F VOHVdfONVi vMamt IS ooovo ALCORN MARSHALL UNION ITAWAMBA PONTOTOC CALHOUN YALOBUSHA \BgLIVA^ MONROE CHICKASAW TALLAHATCHU *£NADA WEBSTER M0NT6OM. OKTIBBEHA WASHINGTON. NOXUBEE 'ATTALA WINSTON SHARi NESHOBA NemPEN (MADISON Tyro bf-wA-orj 4>>iie /rr>€t/0 " hcuryc/ekKtf OPas«/-A O-f /owssa/ t4js/atnai. NEWTON HINDS CLANNt JASPER COPIAH SIMPSON WAtt^ JONES \C0YIH6T0N LINCOLN piANKLIN ADAMS PERRY LAMARXFORREST MARION AMITE PIKE PEARL RIVER JACKSON HARRISON SCALE ■ STATUTE MILES AnaJo^e^Cis 'tWM bentoj! 1 TIPPAH 1 h / J / i t ; },■ t' )■ \MfiOt41¥0 ¥iswmoo NnuNv^j 1 2 »fos/a¥w (N^S ' i! 1 i Xj I i Hiver. In fact, th.G Delta ret;ion oirht Yory v:o1?l "do sho^r. ortonde^’i to c. considorable distance along trio so large rivars. The area north of the hrokon lino on the map is prohabl:/ but not certainly'’ a logical part cf tiis upland pine region. No ertonsion into Louisiana is shoirn because the Delta type of bottoriland in the uplcoid pino region of that state is essentially linitcd to the imediate bottons of the Red and Ouachita Kivors and is not well dis- tributed throughout a large unit area as in Arkansas. Outstanding backwater and swanp areas within the first botton area of Louisiana are indicated on the Licp of that state. In central Louisiana north of the nouth of the Rod River, there is a very extensive, alnost unbroken flat or basin which is not protected by levees. During the late winter and spring the Red, Black, and ^Mississippi Rivers s]^.read backwater ever this entire area to c considerable depth, and the inpracticability of leveeing oakos the re- gion almost uninhabitable. This backi^ctcr area is an almost continuous low fla-^ broken occasionally by low clay ridges, deep sloughs and slugtgish bayous Even if protected by levees the country wQ;”*ld collect rain water to a consider able depth oveiy winter and the water would renain iritil punpod out. The timber is very largely over enp opik-wa tor hi deorv , with some rod (guim-clay land oaks _an.d southern cypress-hardwood of low average nor chant ability (see the section on types). The soil is a stiff, w^:y clay end, during the fall drought, hardens to a veritable pavenent. In southern Louisiana too general areas arc- indicated, in the Grand Lake country and bordering Lake Maurepas, which are primarily if not entirely swemp. They ropresent the heart of the Qld Louisiana cypress region and un- til comparatively recently wore tlie principal source of supplj^ of tho cypress industry which is now centered in Florida, These areas, particularly in the Grand Lake coiintr^-'-, comprise a network of sloughs and s].uggish bayous between 13 10, no.. 0.1 .,o-P= 00 00.100011. 0, ...Winoco, 10, nogo., «.pooi.lly ot too .looga oil ..10, n KoJ,.. All o! .ho .loogo* 1 Jl- T '1 - ■f'ra'’, ■> 't' OT'O 'U.t’'xl OQ.rly ^ 1-1 nf -ater or nt learnt '7et tr^n 3-a .u ..nr..u,, anS s77anps arc full of .^at . T\r-i c; si s SI u'^'l cud ^fchc- o.lt-.ya ^ A,-r>Tr>r thG E-nrinr, rise of tlie sumer, ana our mg inc o-p the ^-'ost proiiormcod riages I^ivors the atixo area .Jith the oxeeptxon of .oX. ^ .a. n-,<=t -pf the area is Co? ia sveraesi i£ irimaated. SJ October, hiJneTor, to -o ■■ v-o traversed oti foot during the Into sumer and early years the resich can bo traversea on fall. i,.=,hr +n tidoTKtoT end has never been so The Maurepas Swaaii is oloso • .1+ -i c3 ir'T'-’Glv a local foatnire directly affected by tho Mississippi Eiver; th-' -variation in TJator level nor tiio ^£2“ and oonsequently Tius neiti-^r t x-,- q^vir. <^ils are alsc somewhat graphic relief of the Grand Lake oounury. i different; nnok is much nore prevalent th.nn Cn.-y. • -r- tlifoer in both of those swamp districts is largely The remaining tiuocr lu 4.„g. „T itirnaaso resource. In tho kaurepo.s .-re,- tu"elo ~un, which constitutes an ii.£n.,-A,-o a .turo’o" or ".-pam” is Swanp Black Gun, H:Lssa_-D;l,f,lora nuch of the so-cai?.ed "tupo-o or „ui 4- rrrelo o-ur hTvsso. aauatica L. This is probably Walter, rather tha-n true Tupelo ...un, , Vo-i rnri is f ound, tho only locality in the Delta wnore + - i.- ertirelv ucnnhablted insofar as pemnnent The swamp countr'^ lo entire ■u fishers and 4 ^,,4- runbsrs of French and Cuju.. habitation is concomed but l-r,,^ nu., ■ • th-vP '.n^' maiutaia srarhl cabins, houseboats anr trapioors make their livms there the lihe. ^ r- no Tidor of the Delta net es-peciall;:/' dGSign^^e Begarding the rer.iaiiid.Gr oi , »-finr the ^ocra sloughs end swamps and "swamp" or "backwater”, anv. exceyting 4. the -cut'-s of several other principal rivers, possible backwator areas at the 4- 4-4, T'oTt" is mt a swonp and does not at be stated emphatically tmt the Dat. ■ st-tement is -nde advisedly to clear up a comon in- resemble one. mis stute , - ^ ^.P^-^liar .ression of the Southern Bottomlara Eardwood Bogion h.l a- , mfi the above excoptloas, it is about 50 por cent Jxiproved la:.a , it by for the best in the South, ard it contains relatively as rreny -wou-aevelopod connunitios, tomis and tr.aisportc.ticn .ystens as the South in general, m spite of the fact that but for the protection afforded by the leveos two-thdrds to four-fifths of it would bo subject to teinporar:. annual or periodic overflow, it is probably no noro clironicciiy and swar.w than the Gulf Coastal Plain in general (although it is muddier when wot due to the vast difference in soil). Even in the days of slavery, before the development of the levee systm, the Delta was extensively set- ’ tied and already well on Its way towai^ becoming the cotton center of the South. liOraOttAMDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI Eliraa D^LTA KBGIQH I I I >a 0 0 w P p P >» O’ 0 P 1 o 0 P •d O ^ O w O B to ft p 0 P ft o P o 0 ra o POP • > d O 0 O o3 ft ?-* ‘H 0 p P p P P O p *H p 0 •H P d -p w p P 0 P p '^d p o •V > p 0 p d P 0 w 0 o ft ^ — l-H o pi 0 p p o^‘ . - . 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Pi cd - ^ vd XT’ r-i P P D O ii -p O d 5^ o 0 43 -r-v P 0 d CO •H o P o • O 0 S i— ■ X rCl d Pi •H l>a Pi 0 . 0 S P p H a d P( P ~ p I — 1 o c3 P 0 P 0 •H 0 o o p d 0 a ,c: 0 O 0 fH 0 0 •H o O 0 0 43 0 CO 43 P 0 0 0 0 0 43 Pi >s •H 0 rP • o a P rH rH 0 43 p.' .> o O iH 0 rP P • 0 p 0 P 43 o 0 d 43 Ch rH P » P 0 p rH 0 O 43 O o 0 d P H 0 0 P P o P 0 O 01 >i ♦ •iH O 0 43 •H 0 P p •H •H '-D 0) •• 0 P 0 n- O ^ ■ cd u n H 0 0 -P cH • Jj ‘H P rP •r C r; >a C iH d 0 p a p (H y? p, 0 p p p -p 0 W 0 P O ^ ^ '‘3 cd O -H -P 0 rH d 0 0 P O « P, P 0 rP •P P •H rP -P .H •H S -s -P -H P ^ 8 O K 0 0 0 d P 0 d P So P P iH 0 P cd 0 p 0 d B Ch cd O « ^ o d -p P P -p 0 -H O rH ^ 0 0 •H ti£) 0 d -p P ‘H rH O |i| 0 d 0 P - 0 P ^ »P O 0 -P Ch iH ^ P 0 O 'H • I • 0 p iH CM •H O d P 0 d P P P o CO 0 Ch Ol (29) Hox>-hornbeain ~ Ostrya virgiiniana (Miller) Koch. Beech - ga,£nis grandifolia Ehrhart. Witch-hazel - Hamamelis macrophylla Pursh. I • © r- ■p a •H u , o «H • u • (D ' rH cH id u 0) -p a> P 0) P -p p} o +3 ct p r" r* rP a + 4 { ( I F EXPLANATION' OF COLUMN HEADINGS IN TABI3LAB OUTLINE’ Listed in* the order and by the nomenclature given by G-. E, Sudworth (check List of the Forest Trees of the Lhited States, Their Names and Ranges. U. S. Department of Agriculture Misc* Cir, 92, issued March, 1927). The few exceptions in the common; names are npted. The numbers show approximate degrees of commercial importance within the Delta: (1) Primary, with species widely and more or less abundantly distributed. (2) Primary, but species not abundant except locally. . * ' ; (3) seoondary, with species widely end mere or less abundantly distrivuted. '■ (4) Secondary, but species i3Dt abundant except locally. (5) Minor. (6) No commercial use. species is considered to range "throughout the Delta" if the entire lower Mississippi River valley or Belt.c region lies .within the extreme" boundar ies of its geographic range. Certain species, e.g. , so ut horn red oak, Querrus rubra L. , have a geographic range which includes, the entire Delta region, ^yet in the Delta bottomlands (practically but not entirely synonomous with Delta region because a few local islands' and ridges of upland occur -within the alluvial valley proper) such species may.^be .very. uncommono The point i^ that such trees may be found an^v7hore within the Delta region on favorable sites merely because the Delta region lies wholly .within their natural geographic j'; , ^ i5o i_ jV ' : , I. '■ 'd ' 0) rango. The facts in each case are oKplaiiiGd fully in the adjacent colum, 77hicli gives distribution and habitat in the Delta bottomlands’*. ^The numbers refer-- to the forest cover types in \7hich the ^ectes Is found more or less regularly and typically, in the approximate order of their importance. The types given first ai^ those in which the species is most common, and the one or two unusually important types ^ if any, are underlined or double-underlined for onphasis. No attempt is made, however, to name all the types, in which each species occurs, but only the more representative types. For complete type descriptions, see pages 33-54. The types, except the last (#16), which is in a class by itself and hardly comparable with the others, are listed in the approximate order of inareasing wetness of site, 1. OQk-hickoryo 2. Loblolly pine-hordwood. 3. ('ot ton wood, 4. ^od gur&^loany ridge oaks. 5. Ded gum. 6. Willow oak-cherry bark oak-cow oak. 7. Willow oak. 8. Oak-elm-ash, 9. Ned gum-clay land oaks. 10. Hackberry-elra. 11. southern cj^ress-hardwood. 12. Willow. 13. Over cup oek -water liickory. 14. Southern cypress, 15. Tupolo gum. 1ft . Live oa k. 31 iTmm'hpir for inter It shoiild bo understood that ''lunber”, wbon listed in this colunn, refers to nn industrial raw naterinl subject to rofcbrication at factories or other wood-working plants into any of the multitude of articles made wholly or partly of wood. Nearly all hardwood lumber is utilized as such factories, and, conversely, a very largo part of all lumber so utilized is hardwood. The small proportion, of hardwood savrmill production not so utilized is adeciuGtGly covered by specific mention of ties and railroad and heavy struc' tural material. Except in special cases, tho specific uses of "lunbor” of each species are not given, because they are too numerous end too varied to guoto ^iii full. 32 CD :S)KEST ColrEfe t'xpss INJ ajffi! irkiJrA- BOTTOMLastDS ' ; nil .^1. I » IWn ■ ■ i- ip —wi i. . ■ Imm.m.m. ■»*II| r ■ r y. ...... . I* I ■ ^ Forost cover t37pos in the Delta battoinlcnds ere strongly corrolcted ■syitti site. The general scheme of distribution is •shown in Table 1. In the following doscriptions of oach type, the nomenclature of the tree species follows that of G. E. Sudvorth in Uo S. Department of Agriculture Misc. Cir. 9D, "Check Xist cf the Forest Trees -of the United States”, 19S7, except in the case of certain common ncanos marked with on asterisk. In these cases, the common names widoly used throughout the Delta are substituted for the academic nones given by Sudworth. The nmes of the types occasionally differ from the names selected by the Committee on :^rest Types of tho Soc'iety of American Foresters and presented in a r^^orli submitted at the annual meeting in Now ©rleans , Decem- ber 30, 1931. All such differoncGs are noted and tho Committee’s name is given in each instance. Tho number of each type, as it appears in the Oommittoe’s Deport of Doceriber' 30, 1931, is likewise given. No attempt has been made to list, all the tree species ever found or possible to find in each tyrje as conceived. . Only the more common and more represent ative species' are listed. ^ Under ’’place in succession”, the tern ’’climax” is used in the sense of on edaphic climax, not a climatic climax. These cro not the fqrost types used by tho Forest Survey in tho Delta. Tho jsore-st survey typos are listed and oaplained on pa^ 55. Tho Nature tha, Typea and rfee Purpose of ThQiJ* Prosentatjon The sixteen forest typos named and described hero are tree associations^ combinations of species that occur together. Naturally, the number of different specific associations or combinations that can be found in tho Delta is infinite. 33 • ■ Table 1 Distrib-ution of Forest Cover Types in the Mississippi River Delta Region I j- ly Slagle broad cover type need be recognized la such a casG, The cover typos given here are based prinarily on- the species, gerry - Celt is laevigata Willdenow Etc. Occurrence Very coirmon on batture land (i.e,, land between levee and river), on the higher, sandier, better-drained sites. Also common on old fields, principally on sandy or wo 11 -drained clay front ridges. Cottonwood needs bare soil for germination and seldom coroes in on old pasture land. Place in Succession Temporary. When the older trees die or are cut, the stand is usually replaced by a tjq)o in which rod gum is common to predomi- nant. Possible exceptions arc overflowed sand bars and flats in the batture land, i.c., sites subject to the washing and scouring action of large streams. Importance Tory important along the Mississippi River and the larger tributary streams. Local Sub-types and Variants Cottonwood-rod gum Cot to nwo od- sy camor e Cottonwood-willow 3© 4. KED GUM-LOiMT HUXJE OAES (Type #®1, rod gum- swamp red oak, in TypO' Committoc^ s- List) Composition Pre dominants Red gim Liq.uidi:~ibar styraciflua L. ' ^Chorrybcrk oak - Q.uorcus rubra loucopliylla Ashe and Q,. rubra pago daof o li'a (Elliott ) Ashe *Cow oak - Quercus prinus L. Water oak - Oporcus nigra L.; Chief Associates ZSSrtp?ot>ably largely Eraxim:.s americcna L. ) Post oak - Quercus stellate Wang. or . a variety or Q,, nississippiensis Ashe Hickories - Hicoria sp. (several species, but not water hickory) Black giM - Nyssg sylvatica Marshall Minor Associates » White oak - Oporcus alba L. Honey locust - Gleditsia tri.rtcanthos L. Shumard rod oak - Qporcus shumardii Buckley American elm - Ulmus amerioana L, Winged elm. - Ulmus alata Michaux (only in second bottoms) Southern red oak - Q,uorcus rubra L. Blue beech - Garpinus caroliniana Walter Pecan - HicorTa pecan (Marshall) Britton Etc, Occurrence On ridges, distinctly elevated above typical flats. The soil is a silty clay, silty clay loam, silt loam or sandy loan, and fairly well to well drained. These ridges may be either extensive or much inter- rupted by intervening low flats supporting a different typo. The site is usually never covered with standing water and rarely if ever overflowed except at times of exceptionally high water, as in 19S7, In both first and second bottoms. Place in succession Climax, Importance 7ery important, due to its very extensive distribution and abund- ance in both anall and largo areas, and to the value of the princi- pal species. Loeal Sub-t3rpc3 and Variants Any ono or two of the pr edominmt ^ecies or the chief associates may be most prominent on any given area, Bed gun-cow oak, oherrybark oak-water oak and red gim-eherrybark oak are comraon sub-types. 40 259580 RED GDM-LOMT RIDGE OAK TYPE. Species represented in this selectively-cut stand are: Quercus rubra pagodaefolia and rubra leuco- phylla, Liquidaiabar styraciflua, phellos, Ulmus crassifolia, and Hicoria leiodermis^ Miller Tract, Marianna, Lee Coxmty, Arkansas, i 40-a I; i tt r I ■(, :( i.- ' ' • :'L:.G .lOCIu m; :y'i4t; iiXT^iR S i,U:^ nt - vep&I fc/xciirt -.G oiiB n'TCP'i '•_ . -g. fvtjQ ♦ a^n'i-^oi^C jLtaooi^I .aesifj^:h^^. ..o.!, , tijxn^j.‘X£>;^^ 'ttJiil:'; ;■ 259576 RED GUM-LOMY RIDGE OAK TYPE. This second- growth stand, grown presumably on an old abandoned field, contains the following species: Quercus rubra pagodaefolia and Q.., rubra le^cophylla, nigra > Liquidambar styraciflua, Hicoria leiodermis, Ulmus americaha. Shannon tract, two miles west of Hughes, St. Francis County, Arkansas* 40-b 264890 RED GDM TYPE* Second-growth stand of j Liquidambar styraciflua, Quercus nigra and | Platanua occidental ia, 1«8 miles west of Ferriday, I on Jonesville read, Concordia Parish, Loulsiana« 40-c / 287530 RED GUM TYPE. Virgin stand of liquidambar styraciflua on batture land. Principal associates ^ laevigata, £. nuttallil, Fraxinus I pennsylvanica lanceolata. Jackson Point, Goahcsaa I County, Mississippi. i i 40-d 5. REP Gmi (Type #82 in Type Committee^ s List) Composition Pre dominant s Red gum - Liquidambar styraoiflua L. . Chief Associates > .. . Water oak - Q.uercu5 nigra L, *Nuttall oak - Quercus nuttallii Palmer imerican elm - Ulmus amerioana L. Willow oak - Querous phellos L* *HGckberry - Qeltis laevigata ’Willdenow Green ash - Praxinus ponnsylvanica Ian oeo lata (Bork.) Sarg. Minor Associates ' Pecan - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton Eonoy locust - Gloditsia triaconthos L. Southern cottonwood - Populus del to ides virginiana (castig- lioni)- Sudw, Pod maplo - Acer rubrum L‘. Persimmon - piospyros virginiana L* Shunard red oak - Q,uercus shunardii Buckley Rod mulberry - Morus rubra L. Sycamore - Plat anus ocoidontalis L, • ' ?/ator hickory - Hicoria_--Qquatica - (Michaux f . ) Britton Hawthorn - Crataegus sp, ■ Box elder - Acer negundO' L. - White ash - Fraxinus americana L. Etc. Occurrence Common on high clay fle.ts and low clay or loamy ridges throughout tho first bottoms. The soils are usually silty, or loony end where a clay top soil occurs it is usually underlain by a sandy or loony subsoil, /J-so very common on old fields, once cultivated, where there is abundant moisture but the site is weH-drainod (usually on front ridges). Rare to occasional in second bottoms and in very shallow swags and drains, place in succession Probably climax. Importance Very important, due to the wide distribution and to the value. of tho species. 41 P. WILLOW •LK-OHERRyB^^IC CAK-CO\7 OJdC (Not inoludod in T^'po Gooiittoo’s List) OoiTiposi tion Predominant s WilloT? oQk - Quorous phelLos. L*.' *Ghorrybark or.k - Quorcus rubra loucophyXln As ho and Q, rubra paeo do of o lie ( Ellio t t ) Asho *CoT7 ohk - Q,uorcus prinus L, Post ock - ^•^uorous stollgto. iVang, or a variety or Q, nississippionsis Asho ’^uttall oak - Quorcus nut t alii i Palmer Ovorcup OQlc - Quorcus lyrntc. Walter. Wator oak - Quorcus nigra L. Water oak - Quorcus obtuse Asho (only in southern end contral Loui si ana ) Associa tos Rod gimi - Liquicig-ibar st^Taciflur. L. Amor i can olm - Ulmus amorLcana L. * Wingod elm “ Uli.ius alata Michaux {or.ly in soco.nd hot toms) Coder elm - Uliius crassifolia Nutt all. (principall3" in first bottor!s) Shumard rod oak - Quorcus shuix.rdii Buckley . Ash - probably chiefly Frcxlnus pconsylvanica lancoolata (Bork, ) Sarg^ I Porstrnon - Diosp^Tos virglniana L. Wator hiokorj' ~ Hicoria aquatic a (Michauz f . ) Britton Honoi^ locust - Cloditsia tricccnihos L. ’‘“'Hackborry - Coltis Icovigcta Will done Etc. Occurrence principally on sites having characteristics (of soil, moisture, elovation end overfloTr) midWey botT7GQn those of t^'pical flats end t3q)ical ridgos. The topography is undulating, v.as^-boardj’’, or hurxiockj’’ nith a result ant aiirture of flat and ridge conditions, and on hurnooky sites in particular the soil is usually' loose and mushyn Well distributed thu'oughout the Delta, in both first and second bottoms. Tho occurrence of ’billon’ oclc and cherr3’‘bark oak together, end of cor oak, Nuttall oak, Quorcus obtuse and over- cup OQk together are good indications of this tj^o. placo in Succession pi'obcbly ciirnx. Importance A ver^’- coiTion tjqpo but ono not ordinarily" covering very largo in- dividual areas. Fine pest oak and oot7 ock are cut in tliis tyqio end it is, in fact, a principal source of cov? aak in the Delta. Local Sub-types and Variants Grades into tygpos containing rod gum and either the ocics of the flats or those of the ridgos. When heavily' cut over, it corzaonly changes to tho oak-elm~ash ty"pc. Due to the prevalence of heavily" •if cut-over crecs, the ock-Glm-ash typo is the iiorc coriraon of -che t'wo end probably covers a very nuch larger eggregeto area. The typo is indicated in oil stands predominated by oaks of two or three or more species not usually fo\ind together on- either typi- cal flats or typical ridges; in certain respects ’’nized- oaks” would be a more useful end perhaps less mislcc?.dii^ nano. The oaks as a group at least equal and usually far ezcoo'd in both nunbors and volmo all othor species together. The typo by no roans requires the largest proportion or even ‘ the ixesencc of each of* the' tliroe oaks given in the type name; the different associations ore nunoroiis end varied end they dopond largely on geographic location, the character of the soil and creiaago and"'^tlothcr tho site is in the first bottoms or in- the second bottoms. Tho throe oaks given in the type ncrae cro merely the most generally common and probably the most characteristic and important. One or two of the first five oaks nenod above are usually locally predominant. 7. ..UXO^ OXtC • (Typo in Typo CoiiriittoG^ s List) Qonposltion Predoninants Willow ock - Quorcus phollos L. . AssociGtos *Nuttall oGk - Quorcus nuttoLlii Polrior Wingod eln - Ulcius data Michaui (only in soconcl bottoms) Cedar cln - Ulmus crassifolia Nut tall (principally in first bottoms) ■ Greon ash - Fraxinus pennsylvanica Icnceolatc (Bork. ) Sarg, persimmon - Diospyros virginiana L- Etc. Qccurrenco • ' Almost GLitiroly on poorly -drained loony flats, or in swags, in second, bottoms, wliero it is widely cdstributod and very common. The stend is almost invariably BO per cont or more willow oak and is gene rally rather open. The flats supportin{;: this typo, oftcji knovm locally as *’pin oak flats’’ (pin oak being a common local name for willow oak) , are usually covered with a shallow sheet of water throughout the winter and early spring. The soil usually contains considerable clay and is rather mushy. place in Succession Probably climax. Inportanco * Important mainly because of the large aggregate area, but the (quality of timber produced is usually poor. 44 2676S2 WILLOVJ OAK TYPS. Principal species in mixture are; Querous phellos, nuttallii, Praxinus pennsylvanioa lanceolata. Ulimis apericaaSi celtis laevigata^ Crataegus sp> , Ulmus orassifolJ^a* Singer tract aea?^ Davis plaeiT on Bayou Tensas, yadison farlsh, Lou- isiana* t t 1 ii i kii 44-a 858083 OAK^EU'I-ASH TTFE. Virgin stand ccaaposed phellos , Qttercus nut tall 11 > Qaerous lyrata, B'raxlnus pemisylvanlca laaceolata, Ulmus craaslfolla^ Ulmas amerlcana, Stacy, Concordia Pariah, Louisifma* 44-h (T3T?g ^85 in Type Cor-inilrtGe’ s List) .. . . • Conp-osition ProdGninants (tho order given has no significance) =tiTuttall oak ■- Quercus nut t alii i ^alxier V/illow oQk - Onerous phellos L. (pilncipally in second bo t tens) over cup oak - Quercus lyrata Walter Post oak - Quercus s tel lata Vtog. or variety or Q. nississippiensis Ashe * Cherry bark oak - Quo reus rubra leu cop hy 11a Ashe and Q> rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe Water oak - Quercus nigra L. Water oak - Quercus obtusa Ashe (only in southern and central Louisiana) Ancrican eln - XJlnus anericana L. Winged eln - Ulnus alata Micheuz (only in second hot tons) Codar eln - Ulnus crassi folia Nuttall Green ash - Frexinus ponnsylvanicc Icncoolata (Bork, ) Sarg. Associates ""^Hackbeiry - Gelt is laevigata Wi lid enow Red naplo - Acer rubrun L* a:id var. dricxiondii (Hook, and Arn. ) Sarg. Persinnon - piospyros virginiana L. Water hickory - Hicoria aquatic a (Michaux f.) Britton Bed gun - Liquidanbar st3n?Gciflua L. Honey locust - Gloditsia triacanthes L. Hawthorn - Crataegus sp. (of no connercial inportcnce and always snail, but usually very con'ion) Wliita ash - Fraxinus anericana L. Etc."^' ^ecoorrcnco" ' Extensively distributed on flats, low ridges end washboardy sites and in swags and drains in both first and second hob tonsg" nost' con- non on cut-over clay flats and low ridges in first bottons, and on cut-over flats, washboardy sites and low ridges in second bottons. Often replaces red gur.i-cloy land oaks and willow oak -cherry bark ock- cow oak types after heavy cutting. Connon wlicrQ shallow sheets or ancQ.1 pools of water stand on the site through the winter and early spring. Place in Succession Usually temporary - a residual typo following cutting; in origi- nal climax typos, Sorx tiroes, however, instead of being merely what remains after moderate cutting, it is a new or succeeding typo that originates from young growth coning in after very heavy cutting. Importance Valuable principally as both a present and potential future source of considerable ash. Local The Sub -types and Variants entire list of species given above is rarely found in any 45 ono instance of the t3rpe except on T/cshboarcly or humocky sites and oven there it is unusual to find so neny species within a reason- ably snail area. The combinations of species, or associations, actually found depend on the character of the site, tlie nature of the cutting and the original association. The oaks arc generally most important and at the some time most variable in their distribu- tion, Locally, any ono or more, spocips of oak, elm or ash nay occur in practically pure stands over small areas. Some of the more common of the numerous siib-types ard; Nuttall oak-water oak (Q,uorcus obtusa) -groon ash) Green ash ) (jTooD. Qsh-red .Liaplo-/inerican elm - ' ) Willow oakr^cedar olm (ospooially common in Ark- ) ansQs) ) Coder elm ) especially on flats and waah- boardy sites in first bottoms Willow oak-water oak ( Querclls nigra ), -elm-ash) especially on low post oak-cherrybark oak-olm-ash ) ridges in second ) bottoLis 46 t 264510 BSD GCM»aLAY LMD OAKS Principal species in this virgin stand are; Liquidambar styraciflaas v^uercus nut tall ii , lyrata^ Fra3:in.UB pennsylvaaica lanceolata, Hlcoria aquatica, phellos, Oeltis laevigata, Ulsms aipericana, IJ. crass if olia» ^-ile east of junction of Louisiana hi^ways 152 and 48, not far from Gilbert, franklin Parish, loulsiana. 46-a ) I 259591 RED CLAY urn) OAKS TYPE. Species re- presented in this average stand of virgin timber lyrata, phellos , Populus deltoides virgin iana , £. palu3tria> Fraxinus pennsylvanica lance Plata, Hicoria aqaatica. Chapman-'sewey Tract, ten miles northwest of Marked Tree, Toinsett County, Arkansas. I I 46>b '■4 i 9. RED GIM-CLAY LAND OAKS ■ • (Typo #86, rod ock-willoT? ocJ^, -in Typo ComnittoG^s List) Conposition prodoninnnt s Rod gun - Liq.uidGribQr styrcciflup L* (gcnGrclly not os conrion ' ' ' ' Qs the oaks) *Nuttall oak - Qtiercus nuttcllii Palhor Milloxj oak - Quorcus phellos L. ‘ ' Pin oQk - Qucrcus palustris MuoncR. '(only fron about tbo Louisiana -Arkansas line northward ) Gliiof Associates •veroup oak - Q,uercus lyrata Walter Water oak 7 Quorcus obtusa Ashe (only in central end southern ; J ’ Louisiana) Burr oak - Quorcus nacrocarpa'Hichauir (sano apijroximte range as pin oak) Anerican oln - Ulrius anericana L. Green ash - Prr.xinus pennsylvariica lanceolata (Bork. ) Sarg, Minor Associates Honey locust - Gleditsia triacanthos L. , *HackbGrrj^ - Celt is laevigata Willdenow Persionon - Diospyros virginiana L. Water hickory - Hicoria aquatica (Michaux f . ) Britton . ^ Hawthorn - Crataegus sp, (of no commercial importance and always ana 11, but very coninon) Cedar oln - Ulnus crassi folia Nutt all Water oak - Quercus nigra L. ' '•■‘•i'' Etc. Occurrence Very comon on clay flats or in swags, where a shallow sheet of water "usually stands during the winter, and on low clay ridges in first bottoms. Occasional on loamy flats in second bottomis and on washboardy sites. Rare on the nest poorly drained, most impervious, tight clay flats in the first bottoms. The most common oak in this typ-G and- the one best considered as an indicator species is Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palmer) . Place in Succession Climax, Importance Very important on flats in first bottoms. Contains several valuable tiiiber species and is very widely distributed., Cne of the principal sources of hardwood lumber in the Delta during the past 10 years. 47 10. HACKBEKRY-EUl (Tj^e;#8‘4, suGar^erry-eln, Type Coiinittee^s List) Composition Predominant s *Hackberry - Colti s laeTigQtQ''..Will.denoy. . iimerican elm^ - Ulnus omoricanc L. cedar olm - Ulmus ora ss if q lin .-Hutt fill„ , . . , . WingGcI olQ - Ulrius alota Micjid,u2c;,Xomly in second bottoms, whore ’ . ■ "r : ; tho typo -is rare) Associates Depend larcoly on type previous to cutting, but generality ' include the following: ' / Water hickory - Hicoria aguatica ..(Michaux f . ) Britton *Nuttall oak - ^uer cus nutt alii i Palmer Groon ash - Pra^cinus ponnsylvonica lanceolate- (Bork. ) Sarg. pod gun - Liquidanbar styraciflua L. - Occurrence . — Usually a residual typo found after heavy cutting. May occur almost anywhere except* in , sloughs , .along- bayou fronts or in. deep swamps, but by far the most common on poorly- drained flats in first bottoms and rather rare in second bottoms. It coixicnly sueceeds 'the red gun-clay land oaks typo after removal of, the gun and best oak, * Plaee in Succession Usually temporary, ' Importance Of little value or entirely worthless commercially, but very wide-spread and from that viewpoint important. V/hen the original and only cutting on the site lies been for lurabor mill material,, a. cutting in the residual hcckbcrry-elm type for slack' cooperage usually yields a moderate return. 48 264506 HACKBERHY-ELM TYPE. Hackberry-elm stand located 16 miles south of Vidal la, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. Stand contains approximately 95 per cent Geltis laevigata and approximately 5 per cent XJlisus amerleana and Fraxinus pennsyl- vanica lanceolata. 48-a L. SOUTHERN OYPRESS-HARBvTiOD (Typo #87 in Typo Corjnittee’-s Xist) Oonposition .■ Prodoninonts ' Southei^- -cypross - Tcxodiun distichmi (-L.')' Bichnfy. Green nsh - Prnxinus pGnnsyJ.YGiiicQ lancedln-tc:- {Bork. ) - SCrre, Bed Gun Liq.uidcn'bar styraciflua- L* - Eed naplG - Acer rubrun L. and var. drur.nondii (Hook, and Am, ) ... SarG, ■ . ■ Silver ncple - Ac or sg c c hari nuin. { only ^fron -northern' Louisiana northT7crd ) American elri - Ulmus onericana L, . ' . '■ . . . Chief Associates ' - - .Oyercup oak - Quercus lyrata V/alter :*Nuttall oak - Quercus nuttallii palmer Water hickory - Hi<»oria aguatica (Michaux f.) Britton Pin oak - Quercus palustris Muonch, (sane approximate range as silver maple) *Hackhorry - Colt is laevigata Willdeno;? ■ Minor Associates ' Willo-^ oak - Quercus phellos L, Sycamore - Platonus occidontalls L, ' Porsinnon - Diospyros virgin! ana L. ^ V/atcr oak - Quercus. ohtusa Ashe (only in contral and southern Louisiana) Etc, Occurrence This association is found principally on areas in the first bottoms where water stands at freqiDnt intervals but which are low flats rather than swamps. The soil is generally either a clay or a silty clay loan. The cypress is ordinarily without knees or with knees of low height. It is probably most coixion in northeastern Arkansas and southern Louisiana, Also found occasionally on clay ridges in first bottoms, and fre- quently in swags, drains and sloughs. Place in succession probably temporary - with the cypress' gradually replaced by hard- woods. Importance Of considerable importance in northeastern Arkansas and southern Louisiana, but usually of only minor importance elsewhere. Local Sub-types and Variants Cypress-overcup oak, C3rpress-red gun, cypress-ash, and c3G?rGss-eln- maplo are among the common sub-types, bhen the c3q:ress is cut out, the type usually becomes red gum-clay land oaks. 49 12. WILLOW (Type #88 in Type Committee's List) * ' Composition Predominant s , Black willow - Salix. nigra Marshall and var. altissima .Sarg. • Sandbar willow - SaXix loilgi folia Muehl. (not very commoh) Several other species ‘Of willow Associates. Southern cottonwood - Populus deltoidos virginiana (Castig- liohi) Sudw. ^ SwQii^) privet - Forestiera acuminata (Michauz) Poiret Water locust - Gleditsia aquatica Marshall Southern cypress - Taxodium distichum (Lo ) Kichord (principally only in ■ - - . swamps and ” . ' ' .'r - . sloughs) Etc. . ■ - Occurrence As pure stands along river margins,- on river bars, and on low batture land, usually annually overflowed. Also common in shallow swamps and sloughs, old drainage ditches,- etc. . ’ Place in Succession Temporary - replaced by other types as the soil is built up. Importance Very extensive along the Mississippi, Red, Yazoo, Atchafalaya and other large rivers in the, Delta, 50 259607 WILLOVfc TYPE. Sal lx nigra growing in a practicali.y pure stand on land belong- ing to the Chicago Mill & Lumber Corporation, Ashbrook Point, Washington County, Mississippi. 50-a 264507 . OYERCUP OAK-WATER HICKORY T"^E. Diospyros Yirginiana, Q,uercus nuttallii Hicoria aguatlca are principal species in mixture* Sixteen miles northwest of pecan orchard north of Ferriday, Concordia Parish, Louisiana* 50-b OVER CUP oak:-i/yat:^r hickory (Typo #89 in Typo Committee’s List) Compoi^tion Prodotdinant s - Overcup oak - Quercus lyratc Walter Water hickory - Hicoria aguaticQ (Michaux f.) Britton Chief Associates . Green ash - Eraxinus ponnsylvanioa lanceolata (Bork. ) Sarg. Willow oak - Quercus phellos L. \ Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana L., *Nuttall oak - Quercus nuttallii Palmer American elm - Ulmus americana L. Rod maple - Aoor rubrum L. and var. drummondii (H^k« and Am. ) Sarg. Cedar elm ~ Ulmus crassifolia ..Nut tall Minor Associates Southern cypress - Taxodium distichnm (L.) Richard • Red gum - Liquidtmbar styraciflua L. Water oak - Quercus obtusa Ashe (only in southern and central Louisiana) Water oak Quercus nigra L. ; *Hackberry - Coltis laevigata Wi lid enow : Water locust - Gleditsia aquatic a Marshal ■ Hawthorn - Crataegus sp. Etc, Occurrence On poorly-drained clay flats in first bottoms, principally in Lou- isiana and Mississippi , and in poorly-drainod depressions, sloughs and shallow swamps throughout the Delta, especially the southern half. This type is practically the only one that occupies the low- est, wettest and most poorly-drained, impervious clay flats. Place in Succession Climax , Importance Secondary with respoctfto the poor form and slow growth of the trees but primary with respect ’to the large aggregate area. Both princi- pal species are often of tofy poor quality to cut. Local Sub** types r,-.id Vr.rj- r.ts Ivator hickory alone is frequently predominant over small areas of suitable site. 51 14. SOUTHERN CTORESS (Type #94 in Typo CommittGO’s List) Oomposition Prodomincnts Southern cypress - Tc-xodium distichum. (L. ) Richard i V- Chief Associates ■(generally of little yoIug) Tupelo gum - Nyssa aquatic a L. Planer tree - Plan ora aqua tic a (Walter) toelin Willo't? - Salix nigra Marshall and others Green ash - Eraxinus pennsylvanica lanceolata (Bork, ) Sarg, *Hackberry - Oeltis laevigata Willdenow Over cup oak - Q,uorcus lyrc.ta Walter Minor Associates ■* Red maple*- Acer rubrum L« ard vcr. drummondii (Hook, and 'Arn.) Sarg. . , Silver nap lo - Acer saccharinum E* (only from northern Louisiana northward) . ;■ American elm ~ Ultnus anericana L-* ' Honey locust - Gloditsia trlacanthos L. Swenp privot - Forestiora acuminata (Michaux) Poirot Box older - Acer negundo L. Water hickory - Hicoria ague tic a (Michaux f . ) Britton Persimmon - Diospyros virgin! ana L. Water locust - Gleditsia aquatica Marshall - tccurrenco In swamps, sloughs and margins of bayous and lakes, principally , in southern and central Louisiana. Very widely distributed in southern Louisiana but local elsewhere. The stand is usually practically pure cypress and tho associated specie s are largely in an understory of poorly-formed, small trees with tho exception of tupelo gun in tho deeper swamps and sloughs, which coripotos directly with the cypress. Place in Succession Climax. Importance Nearly all the commercial cut of cypress comes from this type. Local Sub-types and Variants Cypress-willow (usually the result of cutting most of the original cypross) 52. 329381 'fYi'-. Oypre&B 42 Xnohsa d^b.h* showing butt eiioll and kneoa. ^Jong iia>ou usu© da ^ror tue, .taadla > ariah, louls- laESe 259593 This pur® stast of oj^preB» 90*^110 ymvB old is growing on a aaiicy atreais. bottom area 3-1/2 till©© ©aisl of Carc?^^, Ow^i fjumd bounty, /Ji^anoas* !! S;! h'i I I- 266678 CTI-KEt;s virgin stand of Tteidinm digti0h\gs; friscipally Hyssa aquation in the overstory* Middle Bayou, Tangipahoa Parish, louisiana* 62-0 S£Sg80 ra?* rrm. Syaaa aquatloa and 'Tamdi^a dlatlobum along Bayou ',^ueue de Tortua, Acadia Parlsb, Louisiana. -li 62-4 15. TUHEUjO GXM (Type #95 in Type Oomittee^s List) Composition Predominant s Tupelo gum - Nyssa aquatica L. Chief Associates Southern cypress - Taxodium .dlstiohum (L.*) Richard Minor Associates , " * Rod maple " Acer rubrum L. and'-var. drurmondii (Hook, and Arn. ) Sarg. American elm - Ulmus ame.r.ioQua L. Green ash - P^axinus pennsylvanica lane eo lata (Bork. ) Sarg* Willow - Salix nigra Marshall end others Planer tree planer a aguatica -(Walter) Gmelin Etc. Occurrence In deep swamps, sloughs, tnd margins of bayous, principally in southern and central Louisiana and often as residuoi stand after cypress has been out. Very widely distributed in southern Lou- isiana, but local eAsowhere. As indicated above, the stands tend toward pure tup el o gum; they ore also generally evon-agod and dense. Tupelo usually is found in deeper water then cypress. place in Succession Intermediate or climax. Importance The large aggregate area and general high yield per acre make this type of considerable importance. 53 1ft. LITE OAK (Typo #78 in Typo Commi-tteo* s List) *~-fk)LTposition _PrQdQQiuGnts Livo ock - Quorcus Yirginiana Mill or Associates ’water oak - ftnerens nigra L. Eod gum “ Liguidcxibar styraciflua L. Holly - Ilox opaca Alton Yaupon - Ilex voi:iitoria Alton ^Ohorrybark oak - Quorcus rubra Icucophylla Ashe caid Q, rubra pogodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe iinorican elm - TOgius aneri cane L. Black gun - Nyssa sylvctica Marshall Etc. Occurrence Rostrictod to woll-drained borders of tidal narshos, low narrow ridgos between cypress and tupelo slou^s, end woll-draincd bayou "Uanks in southern Louisiana. This typo is essentially a scrubby form of rod gun-loany ridgo oaks in which live oak is very promi- nent. Place in Succession Probably cliixix. Importance Of minor iLiporten ce ; practiosll.y _no- comnarcial value. 54 229277 OAK TYPS»» Sstst Co'ts jl3.nch<3 Sti Mary Parish ^ Louisiana. 54-a FOREST TYPES mi) SITES TO BE DISmigUISHED IN THE EOREST SIIRVEY 0 F THE DELTA The Forest Survey to be mad© in the Delta, beginning in the spring of 1932, will include the recognition of broa'd forest types and sites. There is as yet comparatively little detailed or exact information concern- ing types in the Delta because there are few foresters thoroughly familiar with the region. The tentative cover typos described in the previous sec- tion are naturally very far from being the last word, and like the various sites there arc frequently intangible gradations from one to mother. For these reasons not only will there be no attempt to distinguish all the tentative typos given on pp. 33-54 but there will likewise be no attaaapt to distinguish all the sites listed on p,4 . Only the following forest sites will bo distinguished*: (1) bottom- land, (2) terrace (including second bottoms and higher bottoms), (3) swen^j (any^ere), (4) river margin, (5) new batture land (outside the levee but otherwise similar to protected land). Bidges, flats and hummocky or wash- boerdy lands under the primary forest sites, first bottoms end terraces, will not be distinguished because long familiarity with the region is necessary before one can recognize them quickly when following a conpass line through the forest. In many cases, even a very experienced mm would have difficulty in distinguishing certain sites. The broad typos to be distinguished*, and their relation to the torrtativo types already described, arc as fbllows (the order is that given in the Survey Manual*) : "^Fleld Manual for the Forest Survey in the Bottomland HardT/oods of the Mississippi Dolt?I G. H, Lentz, Southem Forest Experiment Station, January 12, 1952. 55 (1) Csrpress (tupelo). Includes both the southern cypress end the tupelo gum types, which are found on similar sites. (2) Cypress-hardwood . Practically the same as the so ut he m cypr e s s- ha rdwo o d type (the difference in name has no sigiif icance) . (3) Got torn oo d- willow . Includes the cottonwood and the willow types aid will bo used on almost all river margins, (4) Red gum. Includes the red gum, red gum- loamy ridge oaks and red gum-clay land oaks types, but the latter two only when red gum makes up 40 per cent or more by volume or 40 per cent or more of the dominant and codominant trees, (5) Overcup oak-pecan (water hickory). Identical with over cup oak-water hickory type, (6) Mixed hardwoods. Includes six tyxies, oak-hickory , willow oak, willow oak-cherrybaik oak-cow oak, hackborry-ehn, oak -elm-ash and live oak , and also the red gum-clay laiid oaks and red gum-loamy ridge oaks tjTpes There red gmn is exceeded by the oaks as group. The live oak typo will be the least com- monly included and has generally the least signifi- cance of the six to eight types thrown together. (7) pine-hardwood . Practically the same as the loblolly pine-hardwood type but broader. With further reference to the mixed hardwoods type, several very >al and significant differences are obscured by using this catch-all but 56 it T?ill be TGiy simple to apply rnd will presumably speed up the field work. In tbe office at the close of the Survey, this conglomerate type can of course be broken down, if desired, according to the primary sites and the: forest conditions (virgin, cut-over, etc.). If finer divisions of site were recognized (ridge, flat and washboard) a rather complete breakdoim could bo mado, but it was thought that tho finer sites were as hard to recognize as the finer typos. Under the circumstances, if the mixed hardwoods type is later broken down in tho office it will probably be accomplished by moons of key species for each finer type involved, with attention paid to tho changes in a given typo between first bottoms and terraces and between virgin timber and cut-over stands. 57 GENERAL UTILIZATION AInID mNUFACTUHE OF H/^PDWOODS Tho bulk of hardwood st’ampagc is manufacturod into lumber, but only a very small percentage of all the lumber produced at sawmills is ultimately used as such. Tho greater part of the output serves as rav/ material for factory and industrial uses and is remanufacturod into special products which often bear no resemblance to lumber. In the softwood lumber industry about 80 per cent of the product, in its final form, is lumber and is ready to be used as such, but in the hardwood industry not over 15 per cent of tho product is so used. Standard hardwood lumber differs from softwood lumber in nearly all respects. It is cut into a much greater variety of thicknosses, viz., 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 1, I-I/4, I-I/2, 2, 2-1/2, 3, and 4 inches; so thin at one ex treme that it. .would almost be considered veneer in softwoods > and so thick at the other that it would fall in the category of cants or deals. There is no dimension lumber in hard^raods. In standard Lumber of any thickness, width is disregarded but thickness must be technically accurate in the rough. It is cut random width rather than even or stock widths; no attention is paid even to cutting to the full inch and the edgerman merely works for the best compromise betv/een volume and grade in each board — disregarding the exact width except as the highest grade is limited to a minimum width of 6 inches and all grades to 3 inches. Shorter lengths than in softwoods, as well as random lengths, are utilized and more attention is paid to grade, for the spread in money value from grade to grade is greater. Finally, the lumber ^ is graded on an entirely different principle. Instead of grading a piece with a view to its general fitness for a certain class of structural work, it is graded on the basis of the percentage of its surface area that can be removed, by ripping and cross-cutting, in the foim of a limited number 58 ■of absolutely perfect cuttings of a minimum size. The number, size and nature of the defects are not considered, but the amount of clear surface and the size and number of pieces that the clear surface will yield are of paramount importance. The highest grade of hardwood lumber has been the only exception to this principle, but a change in the grading rules that makes the principle apply also to this highest grade was made in 1931. For the above reasons a higher minimum diameter is demanded in hardwood logs than in softwood logs and there are also differences in the typo of log that can be utilized. laisound defects and coarse sound defects, when local and few in number, are not nearly so serious as in softwoods, but numerous and closely interspersed defects, no matter how minute and sound, entirely disqualify a log for hardwood lumber whereas in softwoods they are but a minor degrade. Tie mills can use much of this sort of timber and, under certain circumstances, the softer-textured hardwoods of this type can be used for box and crate work, but these uses are possible only with negli- gible stumpage values and in comparison are not extensive. I * • » • It is of interest to note that hardwood himber is not me^3U3ce4r'by''a piece tally as in the case of softwood lumber . The boerd-foot surface meas- ure of each piece is obtained directly with the standard board rule and is tallied by thickness and grade. The rule 'is laid across the board arf. the nearest figure to the edge of the board, -in the column designated for the particular length under consideration, is the surface measure. For lumber . one inch or less in thickness, surface measure is accepted, and for thick lumber the footage is obtained by multiplying the total tally by the thick- ness. Cooperage material, crating arn box shooks, vonecr, tics, car stock, wagon stock and dimension material are also products of hardwood mil^-s, but each makes up only c very anall proportion of the total output of the bard- wood industry. 59 Hardwood sawmills may he classified into a numhor of types based upon the products cut. The most important one, which accounts for more stumpagG than all others combined, is the luanher mill. Owners of this typo of mill own or control most of the timber land, employ the bulk of the skilled and eaperienced labor, and the mills are the most hi^ly organized and the most heavily capitalized. The general practice in limber mills is to cut nothing Tiut lumber for factory and industrial uses, with the oxc.eption of switch ties, timliers and planking, largely from the centers of oak logs (which material is most valu- able in that form, can be sold green end requires no yarding). The lumber ■ ' f mill, however, is very versatile and is capable of cutting practically any hardwood product. There is, in fact, a present trend in this direction. For example, some mills manufacture squares for the sinplor and more standard fur- niture parts and handle "blanks, and in, special cases produce standard finished parts on a large scale under contract. The automobile and furniture indus- tries are the principal patrons of such special manufacturo. This practice utilizes much material that would otherwise necessarily have to Iig handled and disposed of at a loss. Some of the larger and more highly-organized operators run supplementary plants for the manufacturo of upper grade lumber into interior trim, moulding, etc,, and some have worked their lower grades of oak into flooring. In some cases a box and crate operation is an outlet for the lower grades of clumber. Notwithstanding this pronounced trend toward tho monufacture of a finished product in the producing region and even at the mill, only a ve^y i small pert of the hardwood output is now worked at the mill, and from the j economic viewpoint much too small a part is worked up in the producing j region, reached. The trend will undoubtedly continue until a mcare logical balance is Other tjT)es of hardwood sawmills are tie and car st#ck mills, wagon stock and special dimension mills, cooperage mills and veneer plants. The production ^f these mills is very small compared to that of lumber mills, but such plants are economically important and probably will become more so. Many tie mills cut standard cross-ties exclusively, but some of them also cut switch ties, car stock, planking and structural dimension. In prac- tice no two mills are exactly alike and most tie mills produce a little lumber Just as most lumber mills produce some ties and dimension'. The tie mill, however, is always port able.. or semi -portable and converts at least the major portion (if not all) of each log into ties. end rough, heavy structural material. It operates in cut-over stands, in second growth, in small isolated tracts or in stands with much low-grade material, end. cuts veiy .largely on orders end contracts. The dimpnsion material is not cut in standard iizes end carried in stock as in softwood lumber work, but is cut to size according to varying specifications for car construction, bridge end dock construction, etc. , somewhat in the style of the softwood timber and heavy dimension mills. As a matter of fact, there wore hardwood mills quit.e comparable to longlcaf pine timber mills (but on a smcTler scale) which cut large oak dimension and timbers in the days of woodon ships and extensive railroad expansion. The demand for such work, however, ha,s fallen oven lower than the supply of large timber than can economically be put to such uses, and the exclusive pro- duction of structural stock is confined to the smaller mills which use rathor small and'^rough timber and which rarely produce anything but cross-ties, switch ties, car stock and planking. All such material is sold by the thousand-feet boaid nonsuro except crenss— ties. 61 Wagon stock end social dimension mills have been a typical adjunct of the hardwood industry since its -beginning, but as separate and distinct units they are fading, in impcrtance ' as fast as the tio mill is gaining. In the Central States, the Appalachians, Missouri and Arkansas much of the thriftiest and tou^est oak and hickory was first exploited by mills that cut the timber primarily into wagon and vehicle stock. In many such mills only the very best part of the tree, suit able for ‘wagon or buggy parts, was used. In others, some lumber and even ties and car stock were produced in- cidentally. There are still a few such mills but the- widespread replacement of buggies and wagons by automobiles end trucks has greatly reduced the de- mand for such stock. The supply of timber suitable for economic conversion exclusiy'ely into products demanding the highest grades i.s likewise becoming scarce. ’ ■ ' In connection with this phase of the indus try' there was ‘formerly a supplemental tjrpe of small mill that used much fine second-growth ash and hickory, and incidentally persimmon end dogwood., for ^oke and' handle blanks, athletic goods and shuttle blocks. This material was often very wastefulli' split er rived by; hand. The spccicG. dimension mill was the result of a gradual evolution and with further changes will probably survive, replacing both its recent fcm and the vehicle stock and furniture blank mills. There is a distinct tendency in small dimension work to. develop the production of blank small furniture and even auto body parts „cnd, to utilize low-grade ' i ' timber and mill waste in addition to high-grade special products.’ There is also a tendency to coordinate this sort of work with that- of the general •lumber operation, and undoubtedly many benefits will result when -proper co- j ■ * ordination is worked out. The production of spoke blanks, has be cono negligible but the growth in the production of athletic goods ha.s to some extent taken 62 its place.. All wagon stock and special di men .si on- is cut to specification on orders or contracts, Since the beginning of the industry, .all cooperage material has-been produced as a primary product (i.e. , made directly from logs or bolts rather than from lumber) and moderate amounts of crating and box shocks have always been produced in ihis way, especially when- ro tary- cut box veneer is included;-' Other direct productions for specific use are those of paper pulp, and of veneer for furniture and paneling. -..At present the trend is away from the large lumber -producing unit toward a smalloi^-type , possibly even a semi -portable mill for some purposes. ' s^: ' 4 This seems to he the logical development as the largo unbrokon areas of high-grade timber are cut ovor and increasing relicncG must bo placed on smaller, scattorod tracts and on second-growth or pickings from old cut-oYcr areas. It seems probable that this trend will bo accentuated when rclianod’ is further placed entirely on second-growth and the product of managed stands. This type of mill can obtain logs more cheaply under such forest conditions and c.an more practicably be put on a sustained yield basis. At the s^me time, if given the expert nanagoment the big mill usually has, it will cut just* as fine lumber at about as low a milling cost. The correlation of the work- of the lumbor mill and the tie mill will be important and possibly the distinc- tion between the two will bo lost. Tho supply of tie material will become proportionally greater as small young timber becomos the ocln source of supply. As the ^trend toward complete fabrication at the point of origin continues, ’ however, there will develop a limit to the minimum efficient operating unit Si,. % due to _the corrploxity of the manufacture, end it will be ossontial for the smaller operations to handle their outputs through some fom cf concentrating, finishing, and marketing organization. 65 The .greet cere end skill required in drying ]x.rdT7ood limber end th3 necessity of buildin^g up a large and well-assorted stock which is turned over only about throe times a year, plus the inherent higli cost of high-clc.ss work in hardwood manufacture, make the fixed investment in a hardwood operation greater for any stated capacity than in any other branch of the lumber in- dustry, with ono exception. This is the cypress industry, whore even slower drying is common ‘thou^ not entirely inherent , In point of technical and practical skill, and knowledge of lumber, the manufacture of hardwood lumber is more exacting than any other branch of the industry thou^ in the matter of mechanical and administrative efficiency some of the best large-scale softwood operations are individually of a superior order. If there is a continuing demand for forest products of the same quality and in the some quantity now produced, it seems that silvicultural practices must be adopted and that the lumber industry must bo revamped along lines not only of closer and cheaper utilization, but also of more logical and economic utilization; that is, a utilization — starting in the woods— of the right jiaterial for the right purpose, which not only saves waste but raises the average net value of the output. The old practice of working an entire forest into a single type of product and throwing away all the unadapted material is rapidly passing and must pass entirely before intensive silviculture can be an economic measure. In this connection, it is certain tlxit ultimately all phases of utilization — lumber, ties, cooperage, small dimension, veneer, paper, etc., and oven fuel- must bo correlated. These various industries must at least be caused to draw upon the same forest units at one and the same tine, if not to operate under a single business organization. 64 THE PRDvICIPAL MD MDST COMMON SEECIES AND GROUPS OF SPECIES FOTM IN THE DEITA BOTTOMLANDS Tlic species cliscussed in tm following pcgos are soloctod partly on the basis of comorcial inportance md pertly on the basis of abundance in the Delta. SOUTHERN CYPRESS - Taxodim distichmi (L.) Ricliard Names in use in the Delta; Cypress, bald cypress, yellow cypress, red cypress, tidewater cypress (only in southem Louisiana). The last three are coimnon trade names. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Found throi^ghout the Delta but abundant to predominant, and occurring over large unbroken areas, only in southem Louisiana where it is now largely cut out. It was, and to some ex- tent still is, the commonest species in the prevailing low wet flats, shallow bayous and deep swamps of that region. Northward, cypress is locally common 1 in sloughs, swags, ox-bow lakes and swamps, on bayou banks, and mixed with hardwoods on flats. In the local wet sloughs, swags and swcmps, cypress usual- ly occurs in pure, dense, even-aged stands known as cypress brakes -("brakc^^ refers primarily to the character of the stand but as cypress "brakes” occur almost wholly in wet depressions, the word seems almost synonomous with that class of site and is often lo«vo but little in connoh’. Th.c first ,Troup in- cludes two very cCijnoii' species;,.. ” , • (!) Pecan - Hi.GoriQ pecan (Marshall) .Britton (2) V/ator hi cRory - Hi cor ia aguat ic a (Miclicux f . ) Britton A potential third noribor o.f this {;:rcup is bitter pecan - Hicoria texana • # (LeConte) Britton, which probably;...cecurs in the Delta bub has liot yet boon re- > liably reported ns far as known.- . ■ pecan is the tree that yield. s ^t he well-known edible ’’wild native” p'cenn nuts of comorce and is often cultivated in selected varieties; it is often called sucot pecan. Water hickory produces srr ll, flattened, very bitter nuts and in the Delta is nlriost invariably called bitter poem. The true bitter pecan (texana) closely roscubl os sweet pecen but }ia:s bitter nuts. The nuts of each of these throe trees are covered with very thin, brittle husks (about l/l6-inch thick) .' Pecan and water hickory are both riuch nore copoxn in first than in second bottoms. In the forest, those two are oftei difficult to dis- tin.puish fron one another in the absence of nuts. Pl'ioir outward resenblcnce is well matched by the similar characteristics of the luiibcr produced from each. Lumbermen rarely cut either tree but winn thoy do hcnclo tliem no ^distinction is usually made between then rjid both, as "pecan”, cro censiderod' distinctly in- ferior to other hickories. The second, grooip of Delta hickories probably includes at least the follow- ina;: (1) Bittemut hickory - Hicoria cordifornls (WenG.) Britton (2) NutQQG hickory - Hicoria nyrlsticGefornls (Michaux f . ) Brit ton 71 (3) siiacbark iiickoiy - Hicoria ovcta (Miller) Britton (4) Bieloaf stLCiGbark- hickory - Hicor ia laclniosa (Michaiix f.) Sarg. (5) Mockornut hickory - Hicoria alba {L. ) Britton (6) Pignut hickory - Hicoria loiodomis (Sarg.) Sudworth Tho first tyo of these have “nuts home in Yoxy thin, brittle husks (about l/l«-inch or less thick) but the remainder have thick husks (at least i ... . l/S-inch thick, usually much more). All seen to be r.X)re common on second bottoms or terraces than in first bottoms and they may therefore corveniently be called ’Herrace hickories** in contradistinction to pecan and water hickory. The wood of the different species is similar enough so that trade distinctions on tho basis of species are veiy uncomnom. They are generally cut mrely as ^hickory’* and as a group their technical qu-olities are far superior to those of the '^pecans**. Many small operators and the statistics of lui.iber production, however, seldom moke even that distinction. The species of this second group' of hickories, "terrace hickories”, are usually difficult to separate from one another in the field, ibr which reason very little is known at present concerning the range, distribution, habitat and characteristics of the individual species. Tkider the heading "terrace-hickories** , below, tliese species are discussed to tho fullest extent compatible with tho present state of knowledge and tho section is necessarily short . 72 PECiiN - Hicorio pecan (Marshall) Britton • ^ -Names in use in the Delta; Pecan, -'sweet pecan. . .Im:..: -• distribution and habitat in the 'PoAa; Pecan ranges tbroughoUtc -the Delta but is nuch nore comon in first than in seconcl bottoms. It occurs pilnc-ipally on ridges, especially front ridges.' It is rare on low clay flats. On riclgos, pecan usually' occupies swags and drains.’ it appears to prefer noist but fairly well drained soils and although it is often found on sites occasionally o\rer- flowed, it is Gxtrer.X)ly rare on sites subject to frequent, deep overflows of long duration. Occurrence by forest types, end connoh assoc iatos; pecan is occasional to frequent in nany types but is not often comOn. It occurs as single trees and small groups scattered througli the stand in' the red /yn-l r>fr»y ridge oaks, red 'gun, cottonwood, hackberry-elm, red gun-clcy land oaks and oak^eln-aj^ types. NO particular species seems more closely associated than others,-' but common' • associates are red ‘gun, water* oak (Q,uercus nigra L. ) ', American olm, hackberry, honey locust ^d persimmon. General appearance: Pecan is a re diun-sized to large tree with a toll, straight trunk and stout spreading or ascending branches. The branchlets are comparatively few in number, stout, stiff, coarse end ascending. The leaves ore alternate and pinnatcly compound, large (IE to 20 incl23s long) and made up of 9 to 17 large leaflets. The f riiit , which is widely known, is an ovoid or ellipsoidal brown nut, containing a sweet, oily seed car "neat" end borne in a very thin, brittle husk. The terminal buds are yellowish-gray , about one-half inch long, acute and tomentose; the lateral buds are emallor and ovoid. The bark is moderately thick (1 to 1-g inch), grayish-brown or brownish -gray, and usually broken into long, much-interlaced, narrow, rounded, scaly ridges. PECAN. - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton 73 many large trunks, liowever, the bark -breaks-lJarto. .ahaggy_^_2mich-interrupted ridges. Distinguishing characteristics; The fruit is absolutely distinctive and the habit, leaves, buds and b£G?k' can. ^be.. confused only with water hickoiy, Hicoria aq.ua tic a (Michaux f#), Britton* The bark of pecan is usually grayer and at least on young or medium- si zed trees HDre definitely, narrowly and closely ridged (rather than obscurely ridged or with loose, diaggy, platy ridges) than that of water hickory, and the habitat of pecan is much higher and better drained than that of water hickory. Nevertheless, in the absence of fruit the two are often difficult, if not impossible, to separate. It may be said, that pecan is very rarely found on the most typical water hickory sites, but that . water hickory is often found on typical pecan sites; it is in the letter caso that most of the difficulties of identification are encountered... . Economic considerations; Pecan aid water hickory. (These, two are best discussed together. They are cut and sold as ”pecan’’ and to distinguish them from the ’’terrace hickories”, cut and sold as- "hickory” , both together ere re- ferred to below as "pecan”. Hicoria pecan alone is rofcired to below, as "sweet pecan”; "water hickory"- of course refers entirely to Hi cor i a a quat ic a . ) Pecan is of only minor economic importance and until about 1917 was of practically no '.importance whatever. During the World War, pecan was often sub- stituted for hickory end even occasionally for walnut when the suddenly en- larged demand for the latter species brought out many imitations and substi- tutes, Since that time the use of pecan has been maintained on about the same scale and a small amount is cut annually at numerous hardwood mills in the Delta. ' ' As a substitute for walnut, and in furniture work.y, sweet p’edah is pre- ferred to water hickory and many mills state that their cut of pecan includes ' ■ ■ - PECAN - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton 74 S58057 Bark habit of Hioorla pecan, d*b.h. 17 inches, xisher Lumber Corporation logging area near Stacy, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. 74-a no water hickoiy at all. Sweet pecan ]]as a darker heart, less sapwood and a milder figure than water hickory on is said to dry ^ith^ less degrade. Com- pared with^sweet pecan^ water hickory has a redder heart and a yellower sap- wood. Pecan as a whole is extremely hard and heavy for furniture wood end * > • . very "brash for a member of the genus Hicorla. Sweet pecan is cut largely into 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock and often only tjbe #1 Common or better can be shipped, although furnitlJl’e factories usually take the log-run grades (i.e. , all the grades, just as they are sawn) and a few chair factcries end small handle and novelty works will take the ^2 Common alone. Very little sweet pecan is used in thick lumber for regular hickoi^’^ purposes, hut some P/4 and thicker stock is cut for automobile body end snail vehicle manufacture. A small amount of water hickory is cut, like sweet pecan, into 4/4 and 5/4 stock for furniture. More commonly, however, it is cut into 6/4, 8/4 and occasionally 10/4 and 12/4 for light vehicle aid auto body work. Unusually fine water hickory is sometimes cut directly into axles and other wagon stock hy small wagon stock operators and shipped aid accepted as "hickory”. Both i water hickory end sweet pecan have been used for baseball bats in recent years. Pecan is not cut closely end frequently it is not cut at all; ^nly large, clear straight logs can be profitably handled. Yery few mills buy pecan logs on the open market end about 18-inch logs roughly selected for quality are usually the smallest taken by any operators, Ihis light cutting, together with the usually good reproduction, insures the survival of pecan and possibly indi- cates an incroaso. respite its slight commercial importance, the survival of water hickory is especially important because it is the principal natural spe- cies on extensive areas which for generations will.be useless except for the production of rather low-grade hardwoods, PECAN - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton 75 The outstanding defect peculiar to pecan is wind and frdst shake. In the northern part of the Delta, pecan is frequently so shaky OT-er large areas that it is cdinmercially worthless. Probably no other sp-eCies except sycamore and honey locust have such bad shake. This defect is not so pronounced in the southei.. part of the Delta and along the Gulf Coast, which makes it appear likely that the' shake is caused by frost. in drying pecan lumber (and also hickory lumber proper) interior dote causes' as much loss as in elm. Pecan has a relatively large area about the center of the log from "Which the wood is particularly subject to shake, check- ing and waiping in seasoning. This accounts for the practise of cutting only ?arge, straight logs. With the exceptions noted, however, pecan has fewer defects than hickory proper. It is more or less free of knots end bird pock in thrifty trees and it is not subject to any serious fimgous disease. Two insects, a web worm and a leaf skeletonizer , occasionally cause daiiage. The former appears in late summer and most often attacks sweet pecan. PECALJ - Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton j : l' J 76 WM*ER- HI CKORY . Hi:Cori a a qua t i c c (Michaiix f e ) Britton Namos in use in the Deltc.: Bitter pocon (almost eveTyT;7here) , pecan, water hickory. Where wator hickory is in no danger of being confused with sweet pecan or where the distinction is iinnecessary (as in most logging) , it is generally called "pecan'’. Those who usually call it moroly "pecan", however, call it "bitter pecan^’ whenever it is nocessa3?y to distinguish it from sweet pecan. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Water hickory ranges throughout the Delta but is most common in first bottoms where it is common to predominant on low, very poorly drained clay flats subject to frequent deep overflows of long duration. In second bottoms it is also found on low wet flats. It is locally frequent in swags and drains on ridges but is oxtroiaely rare on ridges proper except bayou and gully banks frequently and deeply flooded. Occurrence by forest typos, and cornea associates; Water hickory is most typical and most abundant in the overcup ock -water hickory type. It is occasional to' very common in the hackberry-elm, oak-elm-ash, rod gum-clay land oaks and southern C3rpross-hardwood types. Water hickory is usually more common in cut- over than in virgin stands, due to the fact that it is either veiy slightly cut or not cut at all and that it reproduces very well. The stands on cut-over, low clay flats are often locally predominated by the species. it is most closoly associated with overcup ock, hackberry, w^ter and honey locusts, Nuttall oak, American and cedar elms, green ash and hawthorn. General aippearance; Water hickory is a medium-sized or fairly large tree with a tall, straight trunk end slender to moderately stout ascending branches. The branchlets are not numerous and while relatively stout are not usually as WATER HICKORY - Hicoria aquatica (Michaux f. ) Britton 77 straut ts in sweet pecan. The le'oireS' QjSi alterncte end pinnate ly compound, .,lnrge (9 to 16 inches long) and made up of 7 13 moderately large leaflets. The fruit is an absolutely distinctive, much -flattened, strongly ridged and angled nut, about 1 inch long and almost as ..wide, enclosed in a very thin brittle husk and containing a very bitter seed. . The terminal buds are dark brown, about one- quarter inch long, acute and somewhat hairy. The bark is moderately thick (-^ to 1^ inch), grayish-brown, and broken into long, more or loss loose, scaly- surfaced platy ridges; on large, old trunks it is shaggy. Mistletoe is probably more common in the crown of water Mckory than >on any other Delta species (and next most common on water oak, Quercus nigra L. ). Distinguishing characteristics; Water liickory can hnrdly lie confused with any other tree except sweet pecan, from which in the absence of fruit it is often almost impossible to make positive distinction. As with sweet pecan the nut is the one best distinguishing characteristic. Other ijoints of dif- ference between the tv7o are given above under pecan. . Economic considerations; See above under pecan, where sweet, pecan 3id water hickory are discussed together. , WATER HICKORY - Hicoria aquatic a (Michaux f. ) Britton 26E181 Bark habit of Hicoria aquatica. Sond- helmer lodging area, Bast Carroll Parish, Lovisiana. 7e-.a * * 'I'l , .H' ’Vi' vC'.i; •^■ ■'• i ,. ,.- I 1 i ”TEmA.CE" HICKOHIES These probably include at least the six hickories named above, i.e., (1) bitternut hickori - Hicoria cordiformis (Wang.) Britton; (2) nutmeg hickory - Hicoria myristicaefomnis (Miohaux f, ) Britton; (3) shagbark hicktry - .Hicoria »vata (Miller) Britton; (4) bigleaf shagbark hickory - Hicoria laciniosa. (Michaux f • ) Sarg. ; (5) mockernut hickory - Hicoria alba (L. ) Britton; (6) pig- nut hickory - Hicoria leiodermis (Sarg. ) Sudworth. Of these, bitternut hickory is recognized by its thin, pale, very close, very shallfwly ridged bark, its small (about 1 inch long) ovoid, gray or pale brown nuts borne in yellowish, very thin, brittle husks and its compressed, scurfy, bright yellow terminal buds borne on reddish-brown branchlets. It is apparently not common anywhere in the Delta bottomlands but has been most often found on loamy first and second bottom ridges. Nutmeg hickory is best recognized by its gray-spotted dark brown, small (about 1 inch long), ellipsoidal nuts borne in very thin, brittle yellowish husks and its plump, ovoid terminal buds that are covered with yellowish-brown scurf and borne on slender golden or rusty yellow branchlets. It is apparently restricted in the Delta to southern Arkansas, where it is locally very common, principally on high second bottom flats. Shagbark hickory is best recognized by its bark, which is gray and bi-ckon jLntcv JLong, wide^ hard plates that are usually attached only at the middle. It has large (8 to 14- inch long) leaves with usually 5 leaf- lets; its long (J to :|-inch) ovoid terminal buds with dark, triangular outer scales; and its oblong, thin-shollod nut borne in a largo, thick husk (1 to 2^ inches long and ^ to -^inch thick) . The branchlets are pale reddish-brown and [ ol'ten Bpoc-iejsu nppai^ently well distributed in the Delta and 79 is probably most frequent on second bottom ridges, especially in Arkansas , Bigleaf shagbark hickory has extremely, large (15 to 22-inch long) leaves, usually with 7 leaflets; an ellipsoidal thick-shelled nut borne in a large, thick husk (1-^ to 2>^ inches long and J to l/5-indh thick) ; very large (g- to 1 inch long) , ovoid terminal buds with dark, triangular outer scales; and thick, gray bark that breaks into long, broad, hard plates. The branch lets are pale orange and pubescent. Its range in the Delta is very imperfectly known, but it has been noted principally on first end second bottom ridges in Arkansas. Mockernut hickory has a close dark gray bark broken into low, scaly, rounded, much-interlaced ridges; large to -f-inch long), plump, broadly ovoid terminal buds borne on stout brown branchlets; moderately large (8 to 12-inch long) resinous and fragrant leaves with 5 to 7 leaflets; and ellipsoidal, pale brown nuts borne in large (1-|- to 2-inch long) , only moderately thick (l/lO to 3/8-inch) husk. Its rango in the Delta is very imperfectly known and its iden- tification has so often been doubtful that nothing further will be said except that it is probably most common in Arkansas. Pignut hickory has fairly largo {11 to 14-inoh long) leaves, usually \ with 7 leaflets; long (■g’-inch) acute terminal buds; ellipsoidal, pale reddish- gray nuts borne in rather large, fairly thick husks (Ig to 2-inch long and l/6 to thick}; and gray, ti^t bark broken into low, interlacing, scaly ridgos. It is probably the most common "terrace” hickory south of central Arkansas in the Dolta, but it is difficult to distinguish from other species, notably mockernut, and its range and occurrence are very imperfectly known. The Delta "terraco" hickorios apparently hybridize to a considerable extent and it is hard to find individuals in which all characters agree with those of any one species described in Sargent. > The brief descriptions given 9i SO E55025 Bark habit of Garya alba, d.b.h, 14 inches, height 55 feet. Lonoke County, Arkansas. 80 -a A \ 359603 Bark habit of Carya lelodemls* Two milas north or”Allie^itor on 13 *s. Rout© 61* Bolivar Oounty, !.‘issl8sippl* ;j 1 I 80-b 2659E1 Leaves of Hicorla leiodermis. t [ 80**o J Qboro ore bo sod loss on field ^xporlence thon on the outhoritotivc descriptions of Sargent et ol (ospeciolly os to EiGosiarenont s) . Much more study will be necessary before the Delta hickories con be discussed at any great length, . , . Econonic considerations of the hickories proper (as distinguished by liuabemen fron ”pocQns**, sweet pecan and water hickory): No tremendous volume of hickory, as of oak or gum, has ever been used at any given time but roxt to ash the hickories have probably been the most consistently used and sought-after species from earliest times; they have also been the most • indispensable for several special purposes. However, unlike ash, hickory recently reached its peak of popularity and usefulness and seems now to be on the docline because of the substitution of other woods. This is due in some cases to the scarcity and cost of the timber but even more to the fact that the vehicle industry no longer uses it so widely. In Louisiana, hickory has been of major importance though never of such very great importance as in the Ohio Valley, Kentucky, the mountains of Tennes- see, or even Arkansas, Partly because of the approximate exhaustion of high'- grade timber ond partly because of the waning market, hickory in Louisiana is now of only secondary commercial importance. Hickory was formerly used preeminently for wagon and corriege work since it is indisputably the best wood for all parts but wagon tongues, for which osh is the best. The wagon stock end buggy dimension work in the Central end Mount aii Regions and northern Arkansas was formerly an industry in itself. Special handle manufacture ranked next as an outstanding use, foil-' Ted by largo furniture and fixture framing, ordinary furniture work, ond any and oil special parts requirir-g the greatest of strength, toughness and good working qualities. Nearly all hickory that went through lumber mills was cut thick, princi- pally for the wagon factories and repair shops. A larger quantity, howe7er, was cnit'ijo order in smll special dimension mill^^. or split' and' rired out "by hand. The development of the automobile, has practically eliminated the car- riage business and greatly curtailed wagon manufacture, especially of heavy higH-grc.de types, £aid at the samo time little hickory is used by the automobile industry. For many years a single item, ^okes, nearly offset the loss in wagon stock consumption, but now that the vast majority of automobile wheels havo wire spokes there is no compensating market. The Ford and Buick spoke marke-^, at least in 1923, probably brought hickory to its peak in value. The growing scarcity, coupled with a fairly well sustained demand for spokes, kept uhe price of hickory unreasonably high for many years but at the present timo the price is below red gum and oak and but little higher than black gum and similar spocies except on special orders or for logs for export. Not only has tho automobilo market boon lost but most wagons are now made with oak parts. Most of the hickory now cut comes from lumber mills in tho form of thick lumber far the purposes already montioned. Hickory is utilized very closely, although less closely than in former times. The old dimension industry, in working for spoke end handle blanks, frequently cut to an eight-inch limit in choice second -growth. At the present timo the lumber mill will not ordinarily cut hickory much smaller than other spGcios. For export the smallest size is usuc^lly twelve inches. As in the case of ash, local rather than commercial utilization is the sorious menace to the future of hickory. Next to ash, hickory is the most popular fuel wood be- cause it works up satisfactorily and possesses the' greatest heat value per cord of any native wood. This often leads to' ruthloss butchery of young timber and together ’with its value for local handle-making and wagoii repair has caused its virtual extermination, in a connerciol sense, over considerable areas where the woodlots are otherwise in rather good condition. 82 TMs is the noro unfortunate "because it seems evident that 'the future supply must cone largely from T7oodlots, Much of the present hickory supply is in woodlots and the proportion should increase in the future heccuse the typi- cal hickoiy site is almost always agricultural unless too steeply ' sloping, too limited in area, or too inaccessible. The two most common defects of hickory are bird peck and snail sap or adventitious knots. Many apparently splendid specimens are commercially almost worthless because of one or the other of these defects. Except for web worn in the late summer there appears to be no especial insect pest, end there is no serious fungous damage. 83 SOUFHEFtN COTTONWOOD - Popiilus deltoides virginiQiia (C-as-tig-lioni) Sudworth None in use in the Delta; Cottonwood. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Cottonwood occurs througliout the Delta but is confined very largely to river mrgins end bntture land, whore it is usually very connon or predominant on the higher, sandier sites, end to old fields and the bonks of drainage ditches. It is occasional in opo-nings in nixed hardwood stands on interior, usually sandy or loony, ridges. Cottonwood is most typical on fresh, moist, recent ly-depositodj alluvial sands', silts and loans but will geminate and grow on almost any exposed alluvial soil that is not unusually dry, sour, impervious or subject to x'rolonged submersion by more or less stagnant standing water. Temporary, oven deep, inundations are not harmful. It is very intolerant and probably requires more growing space than any other Delta species. Occurrence by forest and common associates: Cottonwood is most common in pure even-aged stands, i.e., in the cottonwood type, found principally on river margins and batture land. It is next most common in the red gun and the willow tyi^es. In the former, it occurs principally as single, dominant and usually very large trees. Old fields nay seed in first with cottonwood and later with red gum, or with cottonwood and red gun at the sane time; in either- case, cottonwood by virtue of its faster growth takes a big lead and dominates the stand until many of the trees bccone too crowded and die. The tolerant red gun then bocemes dominant and only occasional very large cottonwoods, that have made and preserved their own openings, remain in the stand. Fifty-fifty mix- tures of cottonwood and willow are not coimnon but either species is usually well represented in stands predominated by the other. As on occasional large domi- nant tree in ?'nxGr1 stands, cottonwood is most frequently found in the red gun- SOIJTHERN COTTONWOOD - Populus deltoides virginiana (Castig^) sudw. 84 258062 Bark habit of Populus deltoides vlrginiana* Tree 30 inches d«b,h« Calhoun Bend, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. 34-a loany ridge oaks and the southern cypress -hardwood types. ^ Cornmon associates are: on river margins and batture land, willow and sycamore; on old fields, red gun, water oak (Quorcus nigra L. ) , sycamore, Ameri- can elm and white ash; in nixed stands on interior sites, the sane as on old fields with the addition of southern cypress. Stand per acre: Pure cottonwood stands are naturally very open an. have relatively few stems per acre, but the growth is usually extremely, often phenomenally, rapid. Mature stands of large timber are usually from 35 to 60 years old and contain 4,000 to 12,000 board feet per acre. Older end larger trees of somewhat better quality arc- found on old fields and in the nixed stands, where cottonwood occurs only as single trees or in small groups. General appearance : Cottonwood is widely recognized and hardly requires any description. It is one of the largest trees in the Delta, occasionrally attaining a height of over 130 feet and a d.b«,h, of 4 to 6 feet. The tall, massive gray trunk, with deep V-shaped fissures and prominent longitudinal ridges; the comparatively few, large, coarse branches and very pale branchlets, fom.';ing an open crown, silvery white in winter; and the large, coarsely-toothed, triangular ff leaves with flattened petioles are all very distinctive. Distinguishing characteristics: Cottonwood can not be confused with on other Delta species except possibly swamp cottonwood, Fopulus hetorophylla L. swamp cottonwood, however, is vary locally distributed and rarely corrc.j.on; it is confined to shallow swamps and sloughs, where cottonwood never occurs; and it has larger loaves, broadly hoart-shapod instead of triangular and with round instead of flattoned petioles. Economic considerations: Cottonwood has never been a primary species of commerce but it has long been extensively used. It is an important staple in the hardwood trade and on the basis of stumpage value it is one of'^he more valuable species, SOUTHERN COTTONWOOD - Populus doltcides virginiana (Castig..) Sudw. 85 The upper grades' are use'd T7hcrc wide clear surfaces are required for paint or onanel finish and as ha base for veneers* In the middle grades it is used for cheap furniture, fixture and novelty work and for the backs md bottoms of drawers. In the lower grades it is used for box and creto work, for which it is especially liked* A special wagon box grade, more valuable than the highest standard grade, is commonly distinguished by mills that cut large volumes of cottonwood. It is the premier wood for this pu3rpose because of its, lightness, toughness and splendid painting qualities. Basswood and yellow poplar make equally good wagon box material but are loss available. Stop gun and tupolo gum are also much used in this way but they are not pro- forred. Cottonwood is ono of tho leading soda pulp woods and a source of charcoal for special toclmical purposes. It is also usod for slack cooperage. Cottonwood is cut very closely in the Delta, often to a 10 or 12-inch top diaii^tor, because it commonly cuts out a large proportion of high grades, becausG of the relatively high value of its low grades and because it is cheap to handle. Because it occurs for the most part either as scattered large in- dividuals or in even-aged pure stands, it is commonly cut almost clpor. A few trees in every stand are usually passed up by the loggers, however, and due to tho prolific seeding and rapid growth of the species, its future is very bright. Cottonwood is unusually free from damage by insects and fungi, although a leaf beetle occasionally causes cons idorable 'damage to young seedlings. It has no particular defect except the frequent development of a high proportion of knotty material, but this is confined to second-growth timber grown under rather unfavorable circumstances in open stands. t SOUTHERN COTTONWOOD - Populus deltoides virginiana (Cast lg.rV Sudw. 86 BLACK WILLOW - Salix 'nigra Marshall and variety altissima Sargent, and other WILLOWS - Salix sp. NOTE: The following applies principally to the common black will®w and its variety, but other willows — less comnion, less readily identified, probably smaller and of very little importance individually — also occur in the Lel':e. They are not well knoim and no attempt is made to name or describe them. ’’willow” is used below to designate principally black willow but also associated species of Salix. Names in use in the Delta: Willow, black willovr. Distribution and habitat in the Belta: Willow #ccij:'s thi-oughout the Delta on appropriate sites. ^ It requires abundant moisture and much light; almost any soil is suitable. The genus is by far most common, and usually predominant, on river margins and batturo land T/here it occupies the lower, wetter and usually less sandy sites, 'Willow is also common in swamps, sloughs and swags, and on the banks of bayous, gullies and drainage ditches, in short almost any place where moisture and light conditions are favorable, on local sites of this nature it occurs principally as single trees or in small groups or fringes, Occurrence by forest types: Willow is naturally most common in th.. willow type, which includes all pure stands (usually even-aged) wherever found. V'e genus also occurs sparingly, in openings, in the southern cypress, tupelo gum and cottonwood types. It is often found in other types but only on small local sites. It is generally of highest quality in pure stands, and poorly formed and of low- quality in stands dominated by other species. General appearance: Black willow (Salix nigra Marshall and/or variety a_lti ssima Sargent) is a topical willow with alternate, long, narrow leaves that c BLACK WLLLVU - Salix nigra Marshall 87 are acuminate at the tip. It frequently reaches a height of 120 to 130 feet and a d.b.h. of 2 to 3 foot. The hark is thick, dark brown end broken into long, narrow, flattened, rough plate-like ridges, shaggy on old trees. Economic considerations: For many years, ^villow v/as more or less eom- pl(^tely overlooked by hardwood operators, probably because in the regions of early hardwood exploitation it was both scarce and seldom of lumber size. However, of late years, especially since hardwood production in the Delta has been fully developed and the production of cypress has greatly decreased, the importanco of willow has becorae recognized. It reaches its best development in the southern portion of the Delta where willow, tupelo guia and ash are about the only reso\n*®e left the mills in the old cypress region. The bulk of willow timber (and the largest trees and best quality) is produced along the Mississippi River ^from Vicksburg south; ana ller' quantities come from the banks of the Black River (Louisiana), ftom the interior bayous south of the Hcd River, such as Plaquemine and Gross Tote, end from similar places. The utilization is practically the same as for cottonwood (q.v,), even to charcoal, except that no willow wagon box boards are cut and willow is 'used more in natural finish in the upper grades because of its fine red, purple and brown shades. Selected willow 'is almost as good for natural finish as red gimi but does not command an equiva- lent price. BLAvlK ’dXLOW - galix nigra Marshall 88 267527 Bark habit of Sal lx nigra ♦ Jackson Point, Coahoma Coimty, Mississipr^ie 88*a THE OAEffi - Quorcus L. General outline of the principal groups: In the lower, , Mississippi River Ycllcy, or Delta, there are many more tree species belonging to the genus Quorcus L. , the oaks, than to any other single gonus of forest trees. There are nore than 50 species of Quercus found in ebe United States and over 20 of those species occur in the Delta region. There are two main groups of ocks generally recognized: the rod oai: or black oak group and the white oak group. Each group is popularly sub-divided further into two or three sub-groups. Following is a brief outline of thnso groups, with the names of the species in each group that^ arc found in the Delta bottomlands, (rertain exceptions to the brief notes :on each group are omitted unless involving a bottomland species. Ml. species that cccur in the bottomlands are probablynot listed but #011 that at present are known or thought to occur arc given.) A. Rod or Black Caks (Acorns maturing in two seasons; shell of nut usually pubescent inside; seed usually bitter; leaves or their lobes usually bristle-tipped.) * 1. Hod or bLack oaks proper (leaves deciduous in autumn to mid-winter and pinnatcly lobed, usually deeply). Quercus palustris Pluench. (pin oak) (a ”wator’^ oak to many lunbermen because of its site and technical properties) ; Q. shumardii Buckley (Shunard red oak)- Q. nuttallii Palmer (Nuttall oak) (a .t:.r” c'd: to many lumbermen because of its sitv. and’ tech- nical properties) Q. velutina La Merck (black oak) 0,. rubra L. (southern red oak) P9 Q,. rubrci pcgodaefolia '(Elliott) Ashe (chcrryhark ock) ("swanp rod oak” in 3udT7orth) Q# rubra leucophy 11a Ashe (cherryberk oak) (”&wanp rod oak” in Sud\7orth) 2, Water oaks (loaves tardily deciduous to nearly evorgreon, ^ and irregularly rhonbic, wodgo-shaped or threo-lobed at the apex) . ; ’ Quorcus nigra L, ("wator oak) 0,. obtuse Asho (water oak) 3. Willow oaks (leaves deciduous in autunm to nid-winter, entire or nearly so, linear to elliptical, and relatively « sm 11 ) . ' Quereus phellos L. (willow oak) 0,. lour i folia Michaux (laurel oak) 0,. inbricaria Michaux (shingle oak) If only ”rod” oaks and "water” oaks are retognized, the "willow" oaks are included anong the "viater” oaks. If only "red” and "willow" oaks are recognized, the "water" oaks are nost frequently included ariong the "rod" oaks. Those sub- groups are of popular rather than botanical significance and utility, .0 . " B* White ^aks (Acorns mturing in one season; shell of nut usually glabrous inside; seed usually sweet; leaves or their lobes usually not bristle- tipped.) 1. Live oaks (leaves persistent tlirougli the winter and nare or less corapletely evergreen; entire or practically so), Quercus virginiana Miller (live oak) 2, White oaks proper (leaves deciduous and pinnately lobed, usually deeply), Quercus alba L. (white or forked-leaf oak) Q> etellata Wang, and variety and/or Q, nississippiensis Ashe 90 Q,. nccrocr.rpa Michcux (‘burr oak) Q,» lyrc.tc. "Whiter " oak) (in. a. class by itsolf tb ’HaoIr luaboniGn and not callod a white oak in tho sano sonso as tho others bocauso of its low average quality) 3. Chestnut oaks (leaves deciduous cjid coarsely, sinuately toothed), Quercus prinus L. (oow oak) (-V^swenp chestnut oak” in Sudworth) Q, nuohlenbergii Engeli.icnn (c'ninquapin oak) The 19 species given above are by no neans unifomly distributed tlirough- out the Delta bo^ttcnlands. SiriilcTly the habitats, associates, importance, etc, of these species are very different. The tabular outline affords a brief, ready coriparison of such, points (see pp, 19-DS). » liZi elaboration of the infometion given in the outline, and a brief de- scription and the distinguishing characteristics of each of the Delta oaks, are presented in the following pages, after discussions of the general economic im- portance and utilization of the entire genus and the ty;"yical defects and peculiarities. 91 GENERiiL ECONOMIC IMPCRT/iIvIOE J-m UTILIZilTION OF THE Position in luiibor industry The ocks, boccuso of their cdaption to a Great diversity of usos, their extensive renco and their anple supply, conprisc the nost connercially inportant hardihood Group in this coui'.try, and probably also in the world. They were ex- tensively used both in fine furniture and in heavy, durable construction long before the sottlenont of this country, so that the early use of the abundant supply of native oaks was natural. Until the last two decades they had no rivals arxong the hardwoods with respect to the total volurie used and but few rivals in many specific, usos in interior finish, fumitureV’ and flooring. For purposes of jieavy construction they conparod favorably with the softwoods with respect both to total volune used and to q^uality. Yellow poplar, hard mple, birch, walnut, cherry and mahogany, prior to about 1910, were probably the only hardwoods that could ever be »0Lipared to oak, with respect either to volume or to general popularity. The first three of these species gained end hold such a comparable position on the basis of volume and general utility for interior work, while the other speeies oc- casionally rivalled oak in popularity for furniture and cabinet work. However, oak was without a strong competitor in the hardwood field, from the very begin- ning of our history, in either the field of general utility or that of volume consumption until the phenomenal rise in the popularity raid utility of red gun. In the past fifteen years red gun has supplanted oak in iitany of its old strong- holds of products for interior use much more effectively than yellow poplar, birch, or maple ever did because it not only has most of the desirable qualities of these woods but there is also a large supply, second only to that of all the oaks combined and oven greater than these in the southern part of the Delta. 92 With the cxcoptlpn of -floorirL^r,- ook now ranks socond in interior utilization, » trxd both walnut and nahogeny have gainod-in consumption end popularity, stilL ■ further rcstrictifltl tho- uso of oak in furniture 'and cabinet work. » If it were not for the sront expansion in the use of oak flooring during ^ the pest ton to fifteen years, oak would by this tine have lost its traditional prodoiainahoo over ether comerciel hardwoods .ond its stunpago value would have been ruiriod. ' 'However, its doninence in tho flooring trado to an appreciable extent offsets "its loss to red gun In interior trin and furniture, and its continued leadership in the fiold of hardwood construction notorial is un- inpaired. In this lest field, however, due to a gradual lowering of quality and / sizes, It is now. losing sone voluiio to, -the softv/oods. idLthough it has not yet ' or cur red extensively, the dcvelopnent of .treating processes for red gun threatens to cut sharply into the consumption of oak for these purxjoses also. Despite these inroads, end the act that in the Delta, the production of red gun is equal to if not greater than that of oak, it is likely that because of its wider uses and tho much greater range over whleh it is- -the dominant spe- cies, oak my bo expected to maintain its jire dominance even -when the supply is depondGht upon the practico bf silviculture. Two groups of oaks Naturally, tho oaks are not all equally useful or important because the properties of each species are not the sano end the sup^ply of each species is not the sane. In discussing tho oaks as a whole, it will bb necessary to distinguish only the main classes or groups. The white ock end rod oak .groups (see p. 19 et seq. ) arc recognized in the trade as entirely distinctive. Forty years ago red oak was of little value and only slightly used, while white oak was very valuable and the most widely usod hardwood. This was bqcpuse of the greater cdantability c of white oak for heavy construction, .rai^oad and ship building, and tight 93 cooperage. It was natiorally the better wood for such purposes and the lack of. preseicrative treatments often made its use absolutely necessary. Again, for a long period the styles of furnitiire were based on the use of white oak in the higher classes. In the early stages of hardwood exploitation, before extensive agricultural development, white oak was also more readily available in those regions which were most rapidly settled, since it habitually grows on the higher, drier, and more accessible sites. This feature has of course worked directly against its availability end use in more recent times. For nearly a generation now, however, there has been little commercial difference in the vriluo of the two classes of oak due to the scarcity of high- class white oak and to changes in the uses of oak itself , ^which are now more favorable to red oak than to white oak. The use of other hardwoods in the furniture trade in preference to white oak, and the increasing practicability of logging wet river bottoms and practicing close utilization with all species, have set red and white oaks more nearly at a common value. Any difference in volume consiamption between the two groups at present is probably in the favor of red oak, but is due more to greater availability than to preference. In each group of oaks there is a sub-group commonly thought of as ’*water” oaks (named from their occurrenco on low, moist or wot sites), which is not definitely segregated in the hardwood trade but which is sufficiently different to warrant notice in a consideration of the oaks from a commercial viewpoint. There is one species of water oak in the white oak group and six in the red oak group*. In each class the technierd characteristics are different £ind in some respects the quality is poorer than in the main group. Until the recent *The species included under the term water oaks as used here and throughout the section are: Quhreus nuttallii,' Quercus palustris, Quercus nigra,. Quer- cus obtusa, Quercus phollos, Qucrcus imbricaria (all red oaks) and Quercus lyrata (one of the white dak group). 94 jQ^Qgg^ye exploitation of red gum, with which the water oaks aro conimonly as- sociated, little logging was done in sections running strongly to water oaks and when encountered they wore largely culled over for such individuals as fitted in with the current purposes and otherwise left uncut as of little or no value. However, ^changes in utilization and general economic conditions have brought this group of oaks into general use with no great distinction from the main gi-^up,,"but it must be recognized and understood that the average quality of the water oaks is usually inferior to that of the red and white oaks proper. Principal uses - . The primary products into which oak- timber is cut are, in on approximate ' • order of importance; Cumber^ ties and structural materials, including car stock;" '- tight cooperage; wagon stock; veneers; and small furniture and special dimension r stockT^ The uses of oak- extend into practically. ov-eryr field Of utilization to which any hardwood is ever subject except the' fields of . paper and chemicals, • In the past oak has been burned extensively for charcoal, and although® seldom cut expressly for box and crate purposes it does reach into that field through the primary stage of low-grade lumber. - ' * ^ ■ ' ■ ■ ■ Lumber Lumber probably accounts for considerably more oak stumpage than all other, H * * uses combined, although lumber is not an end in itself but stands for a multitude of uses too numerous to mention except by classes. The principal uses of oak lumber are for flooring, sash and door and interior trim work, end all types of fimiitui-e and fixture work. In addition, oak lumber enters to some extent into every form of novelty, handle, and toy work, vehicle and auto body work, and many miscellaneous articles. Some very low grade oak lumber is occasionally used as r - f- oaks in. greater favor, Be^ently preservative treatment was beoome so common -and ohoap that more red than whilto caks axe.-used. .and stumpage pri^^ are not often ..;ffereiit. , Both rod end \7hitG r/Gter oaks uore long noglocted for such pm’posGc -bGCGusG of - their greater tendency to chock end split, vvliich is unusually proininant in piecos tf largo siso. This has now been largely overcome by careful manufacture and handling and at present littlo distinction is made in the northern half ^f,tho Delta region. In the southoast and in the southern half of tho Dolta there is still c^^nsiderable discrimination. While great volumes of switch ties, planking end timl^ers are produced at lumber mills, much of the supply of these items ^ones from separate operations end the major port of the simply ©f cross-ties, posts, poles, piling, and mine props cones not only from independent operations but from sections where there are no lumber operations at all. As a matter of fact, these items are typically products nf cut-over regions, second-growth areas that are too small or too poor to lumber, and wood lots, and the producers are typically small free-lance outfits marketing through jobbers. Production occurs on every scale, from a single man with a broad ax to companies operating numbers of portable mills, and the industry is one of the principal reasons for many cut-ovor regions reverting to brush and many wood lots to "pasture”. These operations not only commonly leave the forest in an unproductive state, but they are likely to be conducted along very crude, wasteful linos. As a general rule there is very heavy and frequently repeated overoutting. Car stock is cut by both lumber mills and tie operations as ”bill stock on order^ and is complementary to the cutting of ties, planks and timbers because of the smaller and more varied sizes that can be used. However, this type of business has not been sought out to the extent justified by its value because the cutting of dimension bill stock requires such a departure from the established routine of the usual hardwood operation, por that natter, the production of heavy material has boon unduly neglected by the hardwood industry, ospocial- c ly bjr 'tho -siargG^.and ^x^mpotont operators who could have handled business with 99 profit. The industry has let greet voluiaes of this' class of business pass to the longloaf pine and Douglas fir operators norely becauso it has not fitted - in conveniently TTith the traditional nothods and custom^ of manufacture and marketing. Only the lumber branch of the industry .has boon vjell enough ’Tiscoiced and organized to promote this class of trade on a proper basis and it, perhaps excusably under’ prevailing conditions, has considered this work of very minor importance. This was natural and to some extent unavoidable when stumpage was cheap aiid there was abundant timber of lumSor quality. However, under the conditions created in the past few years (and which will undoubtedly be accentuated during the next few years), it will be absolutely necessary in the interests of the industry — to say nothing of close and economic utilization — to operate not for just one but for several classes of products thb require- ments of which ds to size and quality are complementary, i.o., different enough so that but little ma.terial need be wasted or forced into an uneconomic use considering its inherent properties. Inasmuch as diameters down to 10 inches and lengths as low as 8 feet con consistently he used (and in sections whore mine tics, props, posts «nd piling can be ix^rketed to advantage much snalior sizes are useful) , and since almost any kind or number of sound defects, and a few small unsound defects, can bo admitted as long as they do not riaterially affect the strength, the complementary nature of the utilization of lumber and structural material is quite evident-. T-iese qualities and sizes ovorlap not only in the timber stand as a whole but also in the individual trees, inasmuch as nest lumber trees contain top logs suitable only for structural rat erial end the lumbor-grade logs are of structural quality at the heart (unless unsound). t$n the other hand many tie trees contain a butt log of lumber grade and second or higher logs with high-grade side lumber, iny efficient or oven profitable exploitation of sm,il low-graac or sGcond-gro77th hardwood calls for a coordination of those two t\^os of utilization. What has been said regarding the cutting of structural naterirl from oak also cnplics to other species adaptable to that use, end, becauso of the wide usG of prosorvativGs , nost specios of hardwoods arc now used for that purpose, pod gun, Gspecially socond-growth, is an outstanding exanplo. Oopporage The use of oak for cooperage, espocially tight stock, dates back a very long tine. Until recent years tho white oaks nade up alnost the entire supply of tight stave naterial, but no;? that staves are paraffined and otherwise treated to close tho pores rod oaks and several sinilar woods have cone into very extensive use, especially for heading. However, the white oaks still have the greater stunpage valuo. Until conparat ivcly recent tines cooperago work •-as done on o snail scalo by hand. Tho stave non usually procedod tho lumber industry into each now region, culled over tho best of the white oak stands and exploited then in a nost wasteful nanner. Tlioy cut every tree of good appearance and then used only such parts as were perfectly clear and straight-grained, often leaving a whole tree to rot if it v/as slightly cross- grained and difficult to split, and regularly using only 10 to 50 feet of the ston. Because of this syston it is alnost inpossible, in any section of the country, to find any extensive body of truly virgin white oak. The badly depleted supply of high-quality white oak tinber is one reason for the eleva- tion of red oak (which in nany regions was never cut at all until the big lunber opcratqrs cane in) to a conparable position with respect to nost products. The final near- exhaust ion, throughout tho country, of tho choicest white oak cooperage industry to tho use of paraffined staves for 101 ticht containers, but also to the use of nachinery for the working up of a different class of bolts. While tight staves must be entirely free of both sound 6ind unsound defects, they can be cut from short bolts and with machinery to do the work the bolts may very well come from short boles, crooked trees, clear sections between large limbs, etc. In this way cooperage may become complementary to lumber production if the lumber utilization is not too close, and to the production of structural and -tie material. On the whole, the tight stave business in the aggregate is not very large and very possibly is on the decline. Some special types of staves are still split or rived from woodlot timber. Yeneers • ^ •ak is used guite extensively as veneer for furniture and panel pur- ^ • fv poses. A small quantity of oak is used as veneer for crates and shipping cases, but it is generally avoided for this purpose because of its weight and because of difficulties in drying. Likewise, in the manufacture of hi- l-grr. do veneers, Delta oaks are not greatly used because of their greater hardness and tendency to check. Some furniture and panel veneer is made in the Delta from selected ♦ oak timber, but the majority of such stock is turned and sliced from Central States and mountain timber. While this work calls for the highest quality and the largest logs of any form of utilization, cutting veneer logs seldom butchers a stand as did the stave industry because ordinarily only the very finest logs from lumber operations or carefully selected from woodlot s arc taken. Use for veneer deserves recognition a^s r.\ means of attaining a somewhat bettor return on selected logs of the best size and quality, but it does not seen probable that it will have any fundamental bearing on woods practice or industrial organiza- tion before such time as it may become feasible to 'raise large timber under 4 102 mnagonont. As with IxLpor, there is no distinct preference for either red or wiito ocks^- though possibly nore panel work is done in white oak,. ... Wr.gon end vehicle stock The cutting of wagon stock requires good-sized straight logs of at least the quality of^nunber two lunbor mill logs. However, snail sound defects can probably bo treated slightly none leniently while unsound defects of any -type must be nore severely restricted. Fomorly nuch fine oak, hickory and ash timber was cut rather ruthlessly for wagon and vehicle stock clone and, although usually of a heavy portable type, some of the operations were of considerable size and permanence. In many cases, long and heavy slabs, etc. wore throTWi away in sizing the cants. The hearts also were discarded after the notorial of wagon stock quality was cut away, for it would have boon necessary to handle the side material as luraber and the hearts as car stock, plank, or switch tios. As long as timber was cheap many operators would not bother to learn a new game, although some operators did savo either lumber or tios or both in a rather half- hearted, inefficient manner. At present the cutting of wagon stock is almost wholly of secondary importance and is done mostly in conjunction with tie and car stock jobs^ where there is a certain amount of timber too good to bo cut into tios. More good timber is usually saved by such operations for wagon stock than for lumber. Wagon stock requires less care and tochniquo in nanufvacturc and grading than does lumber and can bo sold groen. Most wagon stock that is not gethLrad by jobbers from such small operations is romanufactured from thick lumber as already noted. While few lumber mills cut wagon stock, because the odd sizes intorforo with their routino and tho lumber grade is lowered by using the high-grade material in that way, there nay still bo a fev; large mills that cut their oak primarily '.into wagon stock. Wagon stock is cut on order to specified rough gi'con sizes for axlos, •' j;ongue3 , bolsters^ sand boards, etc., and though strength is the 103 essGniiicl property, the upper grcdo is sub stent icily clear, allowing only one or two dispersed snail sound knots, pin worn holes- or bird pecks, and a little sound stain to each piece. There are only two grades, and very little of the second grade is sold since it is designed primarily to acconnodato the off- grade natorial that is bound to accumulate in cutting for the first grade. Wagon stock, veneers and structural materials , as well as lumber, are graded ^under rules provided by the National Hardwood Lumber Association, Little change in the relative position of the wagon stock business is needed but vast improve- ment in detail is as necessary as in the tic business. It should continue in its important conplembhtary relationship to tho tie business in the conservation of quality material. Special dimension Much special vehicle emd handle stock, spokos , folloes and hub stock, etc., has always -been produced in conjunction with- wa-gon stock. Until recent times much of this was split or rived out of choice timber, as in the case of tight cooperage. Now, however, the work is dcii.:> entirely by machinery end most of what can not be produced along with wagon stock at the little tie mills is cut at special dimension mills which buy choice short logs and bolts of oak, ash, hickory, pers imon , .etc. , from the countryside for the nanufacture of spe- cial items for vehicle work, athletic goods, shuttle blocks, etc. This latter class of mill can use much material that occurs in small quantities in the woods and n single mill frequently takes all the incidental products of the woodlots Olid largo logging jobs in an entire region. Great quantities of porsimnon, dogwood, ash, hickory and clear tough second-egrowth' oak aro, how- over, loft uncut on many lunbor operations whilie other stands of those species * ■ r arc badly over-cut, because of lack of iir.ison and cooperation between the two branches of the industry. The special^dimension mills are nearly eUways located at points of concentration on railroads and buy material delivered to them. They almost never exploit an extensive stand of tinbor tho-nseives ■^ut ^cc^si^nrlly 104 a snail pure socond-growth stand rocoivcs their exclusive attention. Only clear high-grade material can he used, but since it cm be used in short and snail pieces many trees useless to cither the lunbcrnan or the tic-operator can be partially used under favorable circuristances. The outstanding development in dimension T7ork has been the production of blank Stanford furniture and auto body parts at lumber mills from loT7-gradc lumber, slabs and edgings. Previously, these blanks v7Gro always ripped from lumber at the factory. Many small sawmills are now cutting rough squares fo^ furniture and implement work in this way end the practice has gone so far that some large mills and several espocially built and strategically located dlmon-- sion or cut-up plants are making; the finished parts ready for use. The lattci » especially applies to automobile body parts. The unfinished parts are cua to an almost equal extent for furniture and automobile use, and slightly for ether vehicle end implement work, Cck and red (gun are tho outefanding woods for these uses but hickory, ash, elm and magnolia are also important. The greater part of the finished product is used in grades that require perfection. However, there are three grades in most of the iterris and the lowest one is merely a sound grade that will stand screws and nails and some strain. Sufficient amounts of the lower grades can be sold to enable use of most of the material that develops in cutting for tho upper grade. This work not only saves the freight and handling on a large volume of inevitable waste, but, by so doing, lowers the quality of lumber needed for the economical cutting of any given article and raises the amount of low-grade lumber that can economically be produced. In this 7/ay tho woods practice 'nd utilization are effected. As already stated, the product of this work must b. , to a great extent, practically perfect, although duo to its small size ar^*’ the saving in cutting up at the point of origin as compared to the still comr '^ra/^-tir»G -of shipping to destination for cutting up, it is possible to work motopial {^iVlnn Q nuch loiiver yield tliQii is fpasillG undGr olo. pi*RC'ti<'0'S'*~-'tro- sQy nothing of tho possibility of 'ff7orkinig up_ lionvy slobs, odginf's, etc. This work is cttrocting; consideration to the possibility of utilizing short logs, crooked cuts, etc,, in the forn of bolts in ,«onucction with a regular luiiber operation. In one *030 at least, a small operation is being run entirely on such, timber loft in tho woods after logging for luiibor. The logical dcvolop- nent, however, will more likely be the utilization of such naterinl by tho lumber conpany, „ together with low- (2;i‘^de lumber and mill waste. Between this utilization of low-grade lumber and tho increasing production at the mill of moulding and trim from upper grades and flooring from middle and lower grades, it seems likely that eventually only a small part of the product of the hard- wood mills will be shipped in the form of lumber. $ak in particular is probably worked into furniture dimension more than into any other stock. It it also used to sene extent for both vehicle an'd auto body parts. In the form of low-grade lumber, it is not used as much in this work as .red .:;;um because most of it. goes into flooring, but thoro is much mill anfgwoods waste adaptable to vehicle end auto body use-. The special dimension phase of the industry is not yet .fully developed and there is still much discussion of its merits. It seems, however, that it will bo only a matter of time before it becomes an important part of tho industry. " In all wagon stock and dimension work red and white oaks are used more or less indiscriminately, with some slight preference for white oak. The two groups are seldom separated. Ship-building material In nearly all popular notes on utilization, uniiorited emphasis is laid on ship-building in connection with several of the important timber species. It may bo well to say that the oaks have been one of the most important species 106 usGd 'in this vray hut that except in the ' eorlies-t tii3es -ship- ‘bulldin.:: naterial hiis not constituted one of tho prlnary’ or direct products. Sene ship notorial corresponds closely to bridge and dock tiiibors, sone to car stick end heavy plaiiking;' and soliq is worked fron lunber. A relatively great mount is pro- duced under contract by lar(ge lunber mills. In the days of wooden ships many heavy timbers were hawn and there were once heavy-tinber mills cutting oak ship, bridge and dock stock, but little of either type of work is done now. White oaks have been and still are the favorites and sonetincs even the only o.xos used, but 'troating, is-to-some extent changing this condition. 197 DEJECTS iJSnD PECULIARITIES TYPICAL OE THE OiJCS . The most general defect common to the oaks is the one most common to other species; that is, red or yello'w heart rot of the butt and trunk, gener- ally introduced by fire. It can hardly be said, however, that any ®ne species of oak is consistently more susceptible than another. Grub holes constitute another very common defect, more commonly found in the g3?oup of 'water oaks* at the one extreme, and in oaks growing on too high or very dry sites at the other. It is difficult to say whether the occurrence ®f grubs is directly related to fire injury or merely to the stagnating effect of growing on either a too wet, heavy soil or a too dry, light one. Inferior specimens of almost any species of oak are prone to be grubby. Pin knots constitute still another defect common to inferior individuals of any species but to upland post oak and the water oak in particular. This peculiarity is of course largely related to tolerance end growth habit, but all oaks seem prone to develop sap limbs when released too completely while still young. On the other hand, some of the -water ocks seem to have the greatest number of persistent small limbs when growing on their poorest sites. Shake is more or less prevalent among the oaks but it is not as con- spicuous as in some other hardwoods, dvercup oak is undoubtedly the worst in this respect but there are really no other species outstanding in this respect. Blue {or green or black) mineral stain is another typical defect of oak, usually occurring in streaks but sometimes solidly coloring the heart'wood of living trees. It occurs most prominently in the water oaks* but is likely to occur in any of the rod oak group, iak, except overcup and post oaks, is not particularly affected with bird peck or spot -worms. It need hardly be mentioned that the oaks are among the hardest and heaviest of American -woods. They are very likely to check in seasoning and they are among the most difficult ^Soe footnote to page 94 for the oaks included in this group. woods to kilJi-dry, However there is c greet veriction in those respects; the wcter ocks ere the hardest end the most difficult to dry. Even within c single species there is great variation, depending largely on site. Timber from ridges and dry, light soils is consistently softer than that from moist clay soils, and old original timber is softer than second growth. Soft stock is easier to dry than hard stock. There is also considerable variation in workability, straightness of grain and cleevcbility. The advantage is with the bettor red oaks in this respect and the water oaks are the worst, having 'a tendency to twisted or interlocking^;;r:yAih. For oaks in general, however, the working qualities are good to excellent end the grain is straight and decidedly cleavable. Oak *■ og. & whole, is not prone to warp greatly but individual water oaks give seriof^s trouble end sappy boards ere especially troublesome. ®vercup oak is no doubt the .worst in this respect. PIN 6AK - Quercus pnlustrig Mu(m'cJilia’u:sGn ' Names in use in tho Delta: Pin oak, ^rod oak, tight-barked red oak, ' yellow-butt oakK?)* ’Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Pound only from southern Arkansas, and probably central Mississippi, northward. In this section of the Delta, however, pin oak, is a very, cojnmpn treo , becoming more coramon as one procoods north. In tho northern part of the Delta it is probably more common than Nuttall oak, with which it is often associated. Pin oak tirpically occij^ios "the samo i ' ' -.j ’ ^ - % . . sites as Nuttall pck--i.e,, low, poorly-drained clay flats (whoyo fail ^and If , ' ' ' “ ’ r winter rains collect and romain in more or loss continuous' 'pools during tho winter) and low clay ridgos. It is also found on low , 'poorly-drained loamy flats, on the odgos of swamps, and occasionally on very. moist upland sites. '^Porest t^GS in will eh' most commonly • found*, . and most eommon^gssociates ; Pin oak does not soem to bo most common in any’ono typo: but is occasional to very common in a number of typos. Those include tho red gun-clay land oaks, southern cypress-hardwood, oak-olm-ash, hackborry-cixi, overcup oak-water hickory, willow oak and willow oak-cherrybark oak- cow oak: typos. Strangely enough it also occurs in the oak-hickory typo on moist loamy flats in second bottoms in Arkenseg. General appearance; Pin oak is a tree of moderate size (rarely over P5 to 95 feet high) and typically has a straight trunk, g,cnerally clear for but a short distance, and a symmetrical, pyramidal crown. In large trees the crown loses its original shape and bocomos broad and rather open. The lowermost branches t3rpically droop and usually romain on tho troo long after their death. ^ Ihe slender branches usually boar a groat iiunbor of short, spur or pin-like branchlets; hence the common name. Tho bark is light to dark grayish-brown, very hard, close, thin, and divided by narrow, shallow fissures into broad, low, sealy ridgos. The leaves cro thin, firm, dark green and lustrous abovo, paler beneath, and perfectly smooth except for tufts of palo hairs in the axils 4 PIN fAK - Quorcus palustris Muonch. no t 265904 Leaves .?8 normal of Cuercus palustris , size* 110-a 2595S6 Bark habit of .i^reus paXo^^triSa Cralgboad County, Li^fsnsas* 110-b of the larger veins. They areL'deeply 5_t5:9-lobed, moderately large (4 to 9 inches long hy S to 5 inches Hide) , and have slender petioles , g- to 2 inches long. The lobes, separated by wide, deep sinuses, are irregularly toothed and generally much tapered to narrow, pointed ends. They are supplied with bristle-tips the number of which averages from 10 to 25 per leaf. Distinguishing characteristics; Pin oak, by virtue of its habitat, form, bark and leaves, can always be separated easily from other bottomland oaks with the single exception of Nuttall oak (Qpercus nuttallii Palmer). The distinctions between these two species are taken up in detail in the section devoted to Nuttall ®ak. Economic considerations; Pin oak is not of great commercial importance but is sufficiently plentiful and useful to be cut wherever it is found in*.ordinary logging operations. Its most objectionable characteristic is its niirt^^us small adherent limbs which cause excessively knotty logs. It is also a very heavy and hard wood that checks badly in drying, Eor these reasons usually only the best trees are cut in logging for lumber, "but even then a high proportion of the # lumber goes into the sm’.ll cutting and lower grade uses such as flooring, small fixtures, handles, etc. Notwithstanding the presence of pin knots and the tend- ency to check badly, the typical form of the pin oak bole, coupled with its hard- ness, makes it a splendid structuxel timber provided too-coarse knots are avoided. It is therefore extensively used for ties, car stock, piling and general railroad material. Pin oak does not appear to be particularly susceptible to injury by disease or insects but fire appears to cause unusually great damage. Shake is rather prevalent. • . .Mi PIN O^K - Quercus palustris Muench. Ill , ,5 SHJMAED RED OAK - Querc.ug shumaraii Buckley _ Names in use in tRe^Doltc: Red oak. (not ordinarily distinguished from . .. V''- ■ ■ , ■ot her rod oaks and nover called Shu^rd rod oak excopt by botanists and forest- ,• 1 ' . « * ' * ' . ' ■ ^^•ors). Distribution and habitat in tbs Delta; Distributed, throughout tho Delta but apparently not common enywhoro. .Most frequenT'end largely, confined to wash- boerdy or hummocky sites in either firsb or second bottoms, but occasional, on rich loamy flats in second bottoms and on ridges' near y/ater courses. It is ^ur- ' prising that a specios th'at grows to -such a large size end seems always to thrive so well .ih'the bottoms should be so generally unepmmon and local in its ^distribution. It -undoubtedly prefers, and is seldom found away from, deep rich soils supplied with abundant moisture yet well -drained. It is also found on such sites in the uplands, seeming to prefer hammocks, coves and the banks of small rivers or streams. Forest types in which most commonly found, and most common associates: There are apparently only three bottomland types in whi<»h Shumard rod oak oc--- curs: willow oak-cherrybark oak-cow oak, oak-hickory .and red gum-loamy ridge oaks It is most frequent in the first type named, least frequent in tho last type named. Where found at all, it often occurs in small groups, but it apparently- never makes up any but a very small part of tho stand over a large area. It is most closely associated with cherrybark oak, cow oak, red gum, white ash, water oak (Quercus nigra L. ) , black gum, willow oak and torraco hickories. General appearance; At its best, Shumard red oak is' one of the largest oaks in the bottoms, developing a straight, tall trunk and a broad, rather open crown of stout wide-spreading branches. On young trees the berk is smooth or SHUMARD RED OAK - Quercus shumardii Buckley 26590S leaves of ^^uercue shttmardlly %35 normal size* 112-a 4 256510 Bark habit of Cuercus shuniardii* D.B.H. 22 inches, height 70 feet. St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. i 112-b •I 4 s':' i! 265912 Leaves of lower crown of Onerous ’ahuaa^il smll sapling) » {from 112-c ■# spi^iewhct scaly, and usually lustrous in tho Iottop part of the crorm; on old ^ trees the bark is very thick and usually chara^ffeerizcd by pale or yhite -topped plQto-like ridgos bet’jreen which the I'l^rrows are very rough rn.d very dark- colored. The deeply-cleft leaves are thin, lustrous, dark green above, paler beneath, almost perfectly smooth (save for tufts of hair in the axils of tho veins on the lower surface) and have cn exceedingly large number of bristle-tips. Distinguishing characteristics; The leaves and the fruit are the two most useful moons of identification. The habitat and the bark, are also helpful, but the latter does not always hove distinct light-colored ridges with dark,, a. ■ * rough oreas between and may often closely resemble the bark of other oaks, e.g. , Quercus nigra L. or Quercus velutina La Iviarck. The leaves of mature trees are of almost uniform width, tapering only slightly at each end, and have long, very slender petioles. Each leaf has 7 to 9 broad lobes, separated by deep, usually narrow clefts. It is characteristic ■ of the species thr.t each lobe has numerous bristle-tips, tho total number of bristle-tips on an entire leaf averaging about 25 to 35 and frequently running up to 45 or 50. Tho leaves most typical of Shumard rod oak have the. Largest number of bristle-tips, many more on the evorage than does any other oak found ' in the bottoms. On snail saplings the leaves are larger and thicker than on nature trees and usua.lly taper sharaly from a broad tip to a narrow base and short, stout petiole. The lobes of such leaves are irregular and shallow, Tho acorn, the other iriportant means of idontification, rs a rather large, light orange-brown nut (g- to -|-inch wide by to 1 inch long) , oithcr full and plump or definitely tapered with straight sides, borne in a shallow, rather flat, saucer-shaped cup. In the case of the variety schneckii (Britton) Sargent the cup SHUMARD RulD OAK - Quercus shunardii Buc-kley 113. is rather deep, but with the exception of this difference in the fruit the variety probably does not differ from the species. The variety is of uncer- .... , . tain occurrence in the Delta bottoms, Shumard red oak does not closely resemble any other bottomland oak. It does somewhat resemble northern red oak (Quercus borealis Michaux f,) but that species has not yet been found and probably does not occur in the Delta bottom- lands, In the case of identification in winter , when typical loaves and fruit con not be found beneath the tree (and the bark, habitat end form can not be relied upon except as indications) the winter buds can bo depended upon t establish positive identification. The winter buds, borne on smooth, light grayish or brownish-green branchlets, are about :^inch long, plump, ovoid, well-pointed, rather strongly-angled, smooth or only slightly downy, and dis- tinctively soft light or grayish brown, often dull straw-corored. No other bottomland oak has winter buds of this description except Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palmer), As can be seen from the description of Q,uercus nuttallii on a later page, the two species in question are utterly different in distribution, habitat, leaves, fruit, bark and fom. The similarity of winter buds should therefore cause no confusion. Economic considerations: The wood of Shumard red oak is similar to that of northern rod oak (Quorcus borealis Michaux f.) and possibly of higher quality. It has a mild texture, the timber is of very good average quality and the tree ii^ therefore utilized closely wherever found. The product gravitates rather heavily to such high-grade uses as furniture and cabinet work and even veneer, but the speeios is not distinguished by tho lumber trade from other red oaks. It seems to be a thrifty tree with no notable defects or enemies, ... .... . SHUMARD 'RED ®AK - Quercus shumardii Buckley . NUTTALL oak; - Quercus nuttrllii PGlrior Nonos in use in tho Doltc.; Eed ookj anooth-bcrked red ock, tigkt-bcrked red oGk, yGlloT7-butt oak, striped oak, Bod Rivor ock, swaap rod ock, Mississippi Volloy rod ock, pin ock. Distribution and habitat in tho Delta ; Nuttcd.1 'O.nk. is ojio of tho nost connon trees of the Iot:, poorly- dreinod clay, silty clay or occasionally loony flats in both first end second bottons. It is also ccinnon on fairly uoll-drainod clay ridges in first bottoms but is very rare on locby ridges. It is probably never found naturally outside the bottoms, in this respect differing from most other common bottomland oaks. It is rather uoll distributed throughout the Delta but it. is principally a first bottom species and more or less restricted in seeond bottoms to the uotter flats Tvherc it is locally common. It is not usually found in permanent suemps and never in deep svenps- but it is common in shQllov; swegs end drains. Tho flats on Tvhich it is nost typical have impervious clay soils and due to their i)oor drainage end the impossibility of surface run- off ero usually coverod trith rain Trator to an average depth of 3 to 8 inches throughout tho winter. Forest types in which most commonly found, and nost common associates: Nuttall oak is found principally in- the red gum-clay land oaks t3rpe -where it is the principal "clay land oak" end usually the outstanding species. It is also common in tho willow oak- cherry berk ock-cow oak type in first bottoms, in the red gun typo on clay ridges end in the oak-elm-ash, hackberry-elm, southern oypr ess-hardwood, overcup oak-water hickory and willow oak types. Its most common associates are red gum, iinerican cln, persimmon, green ash, red maple, ovorcup oak, water hickory, water oak (Quercus obtuse Ashe), water pak (Quercus nigra L, ) , hackberry and hawthorn. Except in tho rod gum- clay land oaks type and very locally in the other typos mentioned (especially NUTT/iLL OiiK - Quercus nuttallii Palmer 115 in well-stockod second grdxrbh on cut-cnrer areas) , Nuttall oak is not a species of prinaiy inportance. It is, IioT^GVor, a very TJidely distributed tree end at least several .trees per acre can be found on almost any poorly-drained clay flat or low cloy ridge. General appearanco; Snail ^Decimens of Nuttall oak have narrow, pyra- midal crowns but large trees' have rather broad, open, wide -spreading crowns. The lowermost branches are frequently drooping but the remainder of the crown is composed of ascending branches (often horizontal in the lower middle part of the crown). The bark of young trees is greenish-brown, smooth, tight, often lustrous. On largo trees it is thin (seldom- over 1 inch thick), exceedingly close, 'hard, firm, divided by shallow, irregular, narrow, pale fissures into broad, flat, scaly ridges, and light to dark grayish-brown in color. Small burls, warts and various excresc.^eCiccs are common. The trunk is ordinarily straight but not clear for any considerable length and on large *trees it is almost always strongly buttressed, Nuttall oak is usually only a medium-sized tree but not infrequently becomes 100 to lEO feet hi^ with a d.b.h. of 3 feet or more. The leaves are rather dull dark green above, paler beneath, thin, firm, and entirely glabrous save for tufts of palo hair in the axils of the larger veins. They are moderately large (4 to 8 inches long by 2 to 5 inches wide) and typically tapered from just above the middle to a narrowed base and fairly long, slender petiole. There are usually 5 to 7 lobes separated by deep, wide, obtuse or angularly-rounded sinuses. The lobes at the widest part of the leaf are typically broad, angular, and look as though they had been abruptly cut off, either squarely or obliquely , 'ct the ends. Many of the lowermost lobes are small, triangnlar end more or less entire, and on the small lea.ves common in NUTTALL^ OAK - Quercus nuttallii Palmer 116 855019 Bark habit of C^uerous nuttallii, d*b«h« 13 Inches, height 65 feet, at. Landry Parish, Louisiana. 116-a 265917 lAnreQ of ^wroua nut tall li« 116-5 258068 Tree form habit of second-growth Quercus nuttallii. D.B.H. approximately ^6 inches, age at stinap 68 ye£^:*8, Calhoun Bend, Concordia Parish, Louisiana* 116-c tho upper part of the crom.of large trees all the lobes are of that nature. The lobos arc bristle-tipped but the total nuribor of bristle tips on. each leaf is not very great, aYoraging 10 to 25. The leaves are very variable in size and shape . Distinguishing characteristics; The habitat and bark and leaf characteris- tics, considered together, nill alircys separate Nuttall ook readily ond sharply fron all other bottomland oaks except pin ook (Quorcus palustris Muench,), To distinguish betv:een these t’jjo oaks requires observation of the fruit or the Tvinter buds, preferably the former. Pin ock probably does not occur at ell in Louisiana, whereas Nuttall ook is exceedingly connon in that state. Tliore should therefore be little or no chance of confusing the two in Louisiana. In jprkonsas, however, where both sp-ocios arc common, end possibly in central and northern Mississippi where the two rpnges are imperfectly known, there will frequently be i difficulty in making positive identification. The habitat and bark ere often practically identical. The form of the tree and tho leaves are so nearly the sane,- in the usual absence of r, uniform set of perfectly typical characteristics, that they should not bo relied upon to separate the two. Wlict slight differences there seen to bo between typical leaves of the two species can be surimarizod briefly as follows; nuttallii leaves are rather dull, or at least not very glossy or lustrous on tho upper surface; palustris leaves are ordinarily distinctly lustrous above. Nuttallii leaves are hardly over Q-lobed; palustris loaves are rather frequently 9-lobod. Nuttallii leaves (except fron the tops of largo crowns or the tips of largo branches) arc generCvlly broader and less acuminate at the tip than are palustris leaves and have slightly shorter petioles and rnre angular, more widely divergent, broader, lateral lobes with more sharply truncate ends; they are also much more commonly broa.dest just above the middle, with a sharp taper towcird a narrow cuneato base, than are palust.iri s leaves.. NTjrTLLL OAK - Quercus nuttallii .Palrier The fruit or the winter buds, or both, must therefore be observed. These are both typically very different in the two species and, although varia- tions will be found that will occasionally make separation difficult, in the, vast majority of cases they can be depended upon to point out the correct identification. The fruit of Nuttall o^ is on oblong-ovoid acorn ^ to 1 inch wide by to 1^ inch long, that is enclosed for from one-fourth to one- half of its length in a thick-based deep cup, the base of which is drawn out into a distinct, stout, short stalk. The fruit of pin oak is an almost hemispherical eeorn, rarely over ^-inch in length and breadth, that is en- closed for about one-fourth (sometimes more) of its length in a thin, shallow, saucer-like cup. The size and shape of the acorn and the thickness, shape and depth of the cup are the important points to be noted. The color of each atom is much the same (light to dark lustrous reddish-brown) and' each is usually striped. The winter buds of Nuttall oak are usually just a shade less than J- inch long, plump, ovoid, acute at the apex, inconspicuously angled, light medium or grayish-brown or dull straw color, and entirely smooth or only slightly downy. The winter buds of pin oak are rarely over 1/8-inch long, plump, ovate, acute at the apex, rarely angled, light chestnut brown and more or less smooth, Nuttall oak buds strongly resemble and are hardly distinguish- able from those of Shumard red oak. Their greater size and usually distinctive color are the important characteristics separating them from the buds of pin oak. Economic considerations; Nuttall ook makes up a large part of the total cut of oak from the first bottoms. It is usually cut for lumber wherever found on logging operations. It is of more than average susceptibility to fire injury and resultant, fungus damage. Two insects also are very injurious, A leaf beetle or skeleton- izer caused great damage in 1927 and 1928 in central and southern Louisiana and NCTTALL OAK - Quercus nuttallii palmer 118 grub infestations are genei^ally prevalent in damaged or stagnant individuals. The tree often las a relatively short bole and many adherent horizontal or drooping limbs in the lower part of the crown, resulting in logs '/vith many pin knots. Mineral stain is also commp.n... ' However, with the exception of red gum and ash, Nuttall oak is usually of better quality than other trees found on its typical site. By careful selection it is usually possible to cut logs that will yield a fair to excellent average grade of lumber. In young stands or at least in stands that are not over- mature, the average quality of Nuttall oalc is very hi^ indeed and there are very few defects. It is seldoni cut for products other than lumber, but occa- sionally goes into cooperage and tie stock. 'It is v/ell liked in cooperage work. The wood is redder and has a more uniform texture than any other oak found typically on low, poorly-drained sites. It is hard, heavy and inclined to check excessively. The red heertwood usually has a dull bro’vmish cast and the sspwood has a yellow cast. Nuttall oak is not utilized very closely because of the necessity" of careful selection of lumber logs end the impracticability of cutting it fbr ties. The stands are inaccessible to the average portable tie mill for a large part of the year and the timber is i)ot particularly suitable for tie production. It is one of the few timber trees to grow well, or even at all, on poorly-drained clay flats. Its rate of growth is fair to good on flats end ex- tremely good on c Icy ridges. The tree is usually of only medium size at matur- ity. While it ordinarily reaches maturity in excellent condition, it degenerates very rapidly thereafter. NtJTTAT.T, 01j£ - ^uercus nuttallii Palmer 119 BLACK - Q,uercus velutine La Marck Homes in use in the Delta; Black oak, red oe.k (by many . lumberraen and in the trade ) . Distribution and habitat iu the Delta: Found throughout the Delta region but not coraron anywhere in the bottomlands. Common on many of the loess id uplands included in the general Delta region; e.g. , Crowley’^ Ridge in east ^ central Arkansas. in the bottoms, black oak occurs only on the highest and best-drained loamy ridges, exclusively on the second or higher bottoms or old terraces, it prefers a sandy, locmy or gravelly soil and is -probably never fouid on clay , soils. It is much more conmion in- Arkansas then in Louisiana or Mississippi. Forest types in which most comonly found, end most common associates: 4 There are probably only . three bottomland types in which black pak occurs: oak- hickory, red gum-loamy ridge oaks and loblolly pine -hardwood. It is somewhat more common in the first two types but in either case is found only as a rare to occasional component of the stand. It usually is most closely associated in these types with southern rod oak, white oak and terrace hickories. General appearance: In the Delta bottoms, black ock is usually only a small to medium-sized tree. Its bark is fimly and rather deeply ridged, veiy dark; almost black, and very rough. The leaves ore large, broafi , coarse, thick, 5 to 7-lobed, very dark green and lustrous above, paler green beneath. Their A shape is very variable, but they are usually widest above tho middle end not much narrowed at either end. The tree ordinarily develops a straight stem and has a well-developed crown. Distinguishing charactoristi cs; The bright or deep orange-yellow inner BLACK OAK - Quercus velutina Ra Marck 120 ' berk is 'the mgst outstanding distingiisbing characteristic. Ordinarily, hoT?- ' ever, it is not necessary to examine the inner bark because the very dark, voiy rough bark, the long and stout-pctioled, large, coarse, 5 to 7-lobGd leaves, very dark green and lustrous above and paler and slightly hairy beneath, and the habitat, .usually make identification easy. The ivinter buds are unlike^those of any other bottomland onk. They are large to -^-inch long) , strongly angled, rather sharply pointed, and covered T7ith dense yellowish-gray hairs. Black oak surface bark rather closely resembles that of southern red oak (Quercus rubra L. ) , and in the bottomlands they occupy tho same sites, ^but the two trees should not bo. confused because their respective inner bark, leaves, fruit and winter buds are not at all siiTiilar. The inner bark of Quercus rubra is somewhat yellow but has not the deep orange -ye How cast of Quercus velutina. The leaves of Quercus rubra are very pale grayish-green and very velvety beneath, in striking contrast to the lustrous dark green upper surface, whereas the leaves of Quercus velutina are only slightly paler (and still green or brownish- green) beneath than above and only slightly hairy on the under surface. The leaves of Quercus rubra have rather narrow, more or less acuminate, and often entire lobes and the leaves of small or young trees (not infrequently of large trees) usually have relatively narrow 3-lobed leaves, Quercus velutina, on the other hand, always has relatively bread leaves v/ith rather broad, rarely acumi- nate, and almost never entire lobes. The fruit of Quercus rubra most commonly has a shallow saucer-like cup that encloses no more than one-third of the nut at most, whereas the fruit of Quercus velutina most commonly has a relatively deep cup that encloses at least one-half of the nut. In contrast to the large, pale, hairy buds of Quercus velutina, the winter buds of Quercus rubra are rarely over •J'-inch long, bri^t reddish-brown and only slightly downy, L ' V, :v., " BLACK OiiK - Quercus velutina La Merck 121 Sncai trees of black oak and cberrybark oolv (Quercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe and Quercus rubra loucophylla Ashe) might possibly be confused if the leaves are not carefully examined, but the pale to dark gray, smooth to scaly, .thin surface bark and pale yellt^ish inner-bark of the latter should offer jjUfficient contrast to tho vory dork broTm., or black, rough cr platy, thick surface bark and deep orange -yellov? inner bark of black oak to enable one to distinguish each species very easily. . Economic cons id or at ions; Black oak Is of sufficiently widespread general occTirrenco to be of considerable importance but it contributes Yevy little to the total cut of Delta oaks and in the Delta alone is of very little importance. It is generally cut wherever encountered in orrlinaiy logging operations. The technical properties, the appearance and the uses of the wood are very similar to those of southern red oak (Q,uercus rubra L. ) . On its usual good sites, it is relatively free from disease end insect infestations and it is not unusually susceptible to any form of injury. BL/.0K OAK - Quercus ve luting La Marck ■ SOUTHERN- RED- .OAK - Quero.us rubra L; NacB-in use in the Delta: Bed oak. Distriljutioii and habitat in the Delta: Like Quercus velutina La Marck, found throughout the Delta region but not conmion anywhere in the bottomlands. It is an upland tree that is found in the bottoms only on the highest and best drained loamy ridges of the second or higher bottoms. Its general distribution in the South is muth the same as that of Quercus velutina, but Ouercus rubra is the more common tree, on either upland or bottomland. Forest types in which most commonly found, and most common associates: Southern red oak in the bottomlands is found only in the same three types in which Q,uercus velutina occurs: oak-hickory, rod gum-loamy ridge oaks, and lob- lolly pine-hardwood. Again like black oak, it occurs only as scattered indi- , f ‘ ^ Yiduals that contribute very little to the stand as a whole. Its closest as- sociates in the bottoms ' are white oak, post oak, red gum, black gum, loblolly pine, terrace hickories, winged elm and black oak. General appearance: In the Delta bottoms, southern red oak is ordinarily only a small to medium-sized tree; 'It "'develops a strai^t trunk and a well- developed crown. The bark, even of small trees, is exceedingly dark, almost black, very rough and very thick. The leaves are usually rather large and are coarse and thick. They are dark green and lustrous above but pale grayish-green and very velvety beneath. The contrast is very striking. They are from 3 to 7- lobed and extremely variable in shape but perhaps most commonly have a long 3- pronged or tongue-liko terminal lobe that can be recognized from a considerable distance. Distinguishing characteristics: The very dark brownish-black, very rough and very thick bark, even of young trees, is a very prominent and characteristic SOUTHERN RED OAK - Quercus rubra L. 123 featiTTG. This berk, while more or less closely resembling black oak, is or- dinarily darker, rougher and thicker for troes of the. same size. .The inner bark, however, can always be used to separate the two trees (sec under- Ouercus velutina La Marck) . . The leaves of southern red oak, aside from the contrast between tho upper and lower surfaces noted above, have a distinctive shape that can always be recognized even though the variation of leaf pattern is veijy great. On many ^ trees, especially .small or immature ^ecimens, the leaves are relatively narrow, rounded and narrowed at the base and 3-lobed or forked .at the apex. If not of this pattern, the leaves are 5-(or infrequently 7-) lobed, with abrupt, wide- spreading, narrowly -triangular, sharp-pointed lateral lobes that are most fre- quently entire but otherwise have several small bristle-tipped teeth. The terminal lohe is usually long and 3-pronged or tongue-like. The lobes are generally separated by very wide and very deep sinuses, Chcxrrybark oak (Q,uercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe and Q,uercus rubra leucophylla Ashe) is the only other bottomland oak with leaves at all similar. Mature cherrybark oak leaves, however, have more lobes (5 to 11) and are generally less deeply cleft. In the case of tho immature form of leaf of Quercus rubra leucophylla found on small ^ trees and in the lower part of the crown of largo trees, the distinction is readily made because such cherrybark oak leaves are rather broad and very shallowly lobed, bearing no resemblance whatever to any of the leaf forms of southern red oak. ^ Detailed points of difference between southern red oak and black oak, with which it is most apt to be confused, are given in the section devoted to hlack oak (Quercus velutina La Marck) . In the event that the leaves are not typical or not carefully examined, bark characteristics should be used to separate southern red oak from cherrybark oak, Tho bark of the farmer has SOUTHERN EED OiiH - Quercus rubra L. 124 S65918 Leaves of Quereus rubra ^ X24-a i, f'V ;:V 9 -♦ 265910 Leaves of Querous rubra. 124-b 262il74 Bark habit of Querona rubra, approximately 28 inches. Near Mayes Plot on Urania Lumber Company land, Winn Parish, Louisiana. 124-0 i '1 S65911 Leaves of .'lueroixs rubi*a. 124-d i 1 already been described. The bark of snzill cherrybark oaks is thin, pale gray, tight, almost smooth, ^th many shallow fissures, breaking into aaoll, scaly ridges at the butt. On largo trees the bark is still relatively thin and completely broken up into small scaly ridges, the scales ^ to 1 inch wide, closely oppressed and pale to dark gray in color. The inner bark is bright reddish-brown or salmon pinko The bark of the two species is therefore so different that there should never be any confusion concerning their identity. Southern red oak differs so markedly from all other bottomland oaks that no other points of distinction heed be mentioned. Economic coUBlderations ; Southern red oak is of minor commercial im- I portance in the Delta due to its local distribution and usual lack of abundance in mature stands and to its variable quality. It is generally recognized as a distinct species end it is usually cut wherever found in orcUnary logging operations, but it is not especially adapted to any specific product (except possibljT- ties) and makes up only a very small part of the total cut of oak in the Delta. Southern red oak is veiy^ hardy and resistant to fungi end insects and is of only average susceptibility to fire injury. Even on good sites, however, the tree typically has a short bole and tends to have a hoavy crown. rWith many large branches on the upper part of the bole. For this reason, despite its usually clean and well-foimed lower bole, it is not very desirable as a source of lumber because more than two lumber mill logs can rarely be cut, and usually only one high-grade lumber mill log can be cut, fl*om a single tree. The upper cuts fre- quently have such coarse knots that they are not suitable for structural or railroad material. On poor sites it is almost always too limby for lumber, end although it contains good tie timber it is usually too short-boled to be an SOUTHEB^ RED OliK - Quercus rubra L. 125 GspGC icily desirable source' Of ties'. '-iD'ue^ to -.'tlie Ycriablo quality and the short bole, utilization for lumfer is probably less close than for most other ♦ oaks. The better class of lumber mill logs usually cut out very satisfactorily. The wood is probably the reddest of ' all the oaks, has c good texture and is straight-grained, soft and usually mild and ocsily cured. Its softness is largely accounted for by its ordinarily slow grovrth. Heavy structural pieces ^ will cure without checking and splitting and there is usually a very slight amount of sapwood. In the Delta bottomlands, on consistently good sites, southern red oak is usually cub for lumber. On poor sites outside the Delta, however, where the tree is infinitely more common, it is rarely cut for lumber but frequently used for railroad and structural material,' ^ ■0 •t SOUTHERN RED OAK - Quercus rubra L. 126 CHERRYBARK OAK - Quercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott he r ■ * and Quercns rubra leucophylla Ashe • (swamp red oak in Sud^orth) , . Names in use in the Delta; Cherrybark oak, cherrjT-bark red oak, red oak, yellow-butt oak. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Cherrybark oak is very common and well distributed throughout the Delta bottoms on loamy ridges. In fact it is one of the characteristic and most common sp'.ecies on loamy ridges in both first and second bottoms, including old fields. It is also very common on hummoclcy or washboardy topography. It is rare on flats in the first bottoms, but oc- casional on flats in the second bottoms. From southern Arkansas northward, cherrybark oak is confined principally to second bottoms. It develops best on a loamy well-drained soil, especially on old fields. It is uncommon on clay ridges, although it generally is of good form and quality on those sites. On clay flats, however, where it is very rare, the form and quality are usually very poor. Its form and quality on washboardy topography are generally fair. Forest typos in which most commonly found, and most common associates; Cherrybark oak is most common and most typical in the rod gum-locay ridge oaks type, whore it is the principal ’’loamy ridge oak" and often the most abundant species, it is next most common in the willow oak-chcrrybark oak-cow oak type., which is so often found on washboardy and hummocky topography, Cherrybark oak also occurs (but is seldom abundant) in the oak-hickory, rod gum, loblolly piiio- hordwood and oak-clm-ash typos, named in the approximate order of decroasihg occurrence. In the last three types, cherrybark oak is usually a very minor ^ ^ CHERRYBABK OAK - Quercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott ) Ashe and Quercus rubra leucophylla Ashe conponGnt et host. Single spociinons haTe tjcon found in tho hackberry-olm end oven in tho over cup 0£t’k;-TratGr hickory typ.es.- Cherrybark oak is usually most closely associc.tod TTith red gum, T?7ater ock (Quercus nigra L. ) and cot; oak. Bue to its occurrence in so many different typos, hoT?oYer, its associates arc naturally very numerous and quite diverse; a comploto list of them would be very long and rather meaningless. The throe species just named are irost characteristically associated with cherrybark oak and no other species seems to belong to that snr.ll groupV^ ' General appearance: Cherrybark oak at its best is one of th’e largest of the Delta oaks, perhaps the very largest. It is often 100 to 130 feet high and 3 to 4 feet in d.b.h, and not infrequently even larger. On its best sites it is also one of the two fastest -groiTing of the Delta oaks (the other being Quercus nigra L.)u The tree develops a straight, tall trunk that in old veterans is almost cylindrical to the base of the crown. It is very rarely buttressed. The crown is broad, rather open and composed of very stout branches. The bark of the mature trunk is pale to dark gray and completely broken up into rather thin, small, firm, closely-appressed scaly ridges (the scales about one inch wide and one to several inches long). The bark bears a superficiaj. resemblance to that of black cherry, Prunus serotina Ehrhart (reported from very high loamy terraces and occasional upland "islands” in the Delta), whence the coimnon name. The leaves are coarse, dark green and lustrous above, pale grayish-brown end downy beneath, deeply and widely cleft (except the lowermost leaves of Quercus rubra leucophylla Ashe) into .long, sharply-tapered, widely-flaring , often entire, lobes. Distinguishing characteristics; The bark and leaf characters in conjunc- tion with the habitat and form are so distinctive that chorrybark oak should very rarely be confused with other bottomland oaks. The fruits of cherrybark oak and southern red oak (of which cho,rrybark is of courso a variety) aro identical. The ClMiRYBiiHC OAK - Q.uercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe and Quercus rubra leucophylla Ashe E5502S Bark habit of i^roue rubra pagodaa-* folia » d.b.b. 81 iaohes, ‘HiigHt bfe teat, Pulaski Jounty, .^rkansaa* 138^ 265916 Leares of Q,uercus rubra leucophylla. 128-b confusion of, those t^vo trees is nevertheless very unlikely, Severcl shnrp points of distinction are given under C^uorcus ruhro. L. It ^vill be noted that tno varieties (Quercus rubra pagodcefolic (Elliott) Ashe and <^piercus rubra leucophylla Ashe) are known by the one nrone , chorrybr.rk oak, pr-obabiy the only differences between the two varieties are (1) tha^t in the fomer the deeply- for l^ed type of loaf is found throughout the cro;m of the tree whereas in the latter variety the deeply- forked type of leaf is net found at all in the lower portion of the crown of large trees and is entirely absent fron the crowns of snail sap- lings, and (2) that in leucophylla there is a rjoro pronounced brown pubescence on the under side of the leaves. Where the deeply-forked type of loaf is absent in leucophylla there is found a thinner, very shallowly-lobed type that shows very little contrast between the upper end lower surfaces and that characteristically remains on the tree until the buds unfold in spring. Aside fron those loaf characters the two varieties are apparently identical. The variety leucophylla , with the two types of loaves, is by far the most connon in the Delta. Economic considerations: Cherry bark oak is recognized by all lunbemen familiar with it as the outstanding red oak of the South with resp-oct to com- mercial value. There is a plentiful supply of chorrybark oak lumber and it is of the most uniformly high grades and has the nest uniformly good wcrkir;g quali- ties of any of the red oak group in the South, Prcbabl;/ the only red oaks comp- ar- able to cherryberk oak in this respect are northern rod oak (Quercus borealis Michaux f.) and black oak (Quercus velutina La Marck) . The first of these probably docs not occur at all in the Delta bottoms and tho second is very un- corjoon, Chorrybark oak is also one of tho hardiest and fastest-grov;ing of the oaks, or even of hardwoods in general, and grows well upon a greater variety of sites than oiy other bottomland oak except water oak (Quercus nigra L.}. Fron CHERRTBARK OAK - Quercus rubra pagodaefolia (Elliott) Ashe and Quercus rubra leucophylla Ashe 129 any point of view cherrybark oak' is an exceptionally fine tinber tree. It is apparently not ..very susceptible to cny fern of damage. As with most timber trees, fire is its.pchief enemj^ but, fire df.micge is usually no more severe than in Other species. Grubs and pin worms often cause much damage in badly fire-damaged veterans and in overmature timber but no insects or fungi seem to be a primary cause of damage. The tree is apt, hov/evor, to produce many small adventitious limbs after release and thus produce logs with abundant ^ pin knots. It is also subject to a blue mineral stain that seems to bo asso- ciated with fire damage." Because of its gonoral high quality, cherrybark oak lumber is used to an unusually great extent for high-grade products such as finish, large fixtures and paneling. In texture and working qualities the lumber ranks high. It is 4 usually firm to hard, but always straight -grained end workable even at its hardest. Its color is of' a satis'factorily uniform light rcc" or pink shade similar to the rod oaks of the North. Because of its unusually high quality it is proba- bly cut smaller end closer than average oak timber. Cherrybark oak as cooperage material is probably the nest generally used and most satisfactory of the red oaks of the South. It is also a favorite for ties, car stock, poles, piling, etc., because it not only frequently grows in well-stocked second-growth stands where it developis a fom highly suitable for such products, but it also is less likely to check or becore damaged after manufacture than the other. Delta red oaks. ^ It must be recognized of course that the quality varies from locality to locality according to site and the thriftiness of the stand. Considerable amounts of nature cherrybark • oak will occasionally be found on sites to which the species is not adapted and the timber is then usually grubby and minercl- OAIC -• Quercus mbra prgodae folia (Elliott) Ashe and Quercus ru.br d loucopUyllc Ashe 130 streaked. A ccnsidGroble cciount of tirbor of this kiad on flats died shortly after the 1924 drought. Fires and hurriocnps also seon to bo instrur’snt cl in introducing grub and ninercl stain into extensive stands of' cherrybcrk oak. CHERRyBiiBIC OIK - Cuercus rubra pGgodaGfolia (Elliott ) Ashe and cuercus rubra leucophyllc Asho 131 WATER OAIC - C,uca?cns nigra L* NOTE: this species and rji ercus obtusa Ashe are given the ScXio connon nanic, '^ator oc.k^», by sud^vorth. Ordinarily in either writing or speakir^g about either species, one can add the appropriate scientific none to make it perfectly clear which is neant . In this section and the one following, hov/ever, to avoid constant repetition of both comon and scientific ncries, Anorcus nigra L. is called ♦*nigra ook^’ and Quercus obtusa Ashe is called "obtusa oak". This entails tho sano incongruous but effective nomenclature recently sanctioned by the Forest Service in the instance of Pinus ponder os a Lawson, the official corr.ion nemo of which is nou "ponderosa pine" instead of the fomer feniliar "western yellow pine". "Nigra oak" and "obtuse oak" aro already in some practical use in the Delta by foresters who needed short, distinctive comon nares for the two. "Nigra oak" is not recomonded as an official name because the tree has been loiown from earliest tines, and is r.t present widely known, as "water oak". To avoid confusion, however , "Obtusa oak" is suggested and roconnended as an official none for the more recently described Cuercus obtusa Ashe. Names in use in the Delta; Water oak, spotted oak, pin oak, red oak. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Nigra oak is one of the riost connon and most widely distributed trees in the southern half of the Delta region, whore red gun is its only rival with respect to abundance and fh*equency of occurronce. Above southern lirkansas, however, it is only occasional and it does not quite reach to the northernnost tip of the Delta region betw’een Cairo, Illinois rnd Capo Girardeau, Missouri. In its center of abundance in the lower hci If of the Delta, nigra oak is found on almost every site in the bottons except pernanent deep sv;Gnps end low-lying batture land with frequently overflo?;ed sand or clay WATER Q/tK , - Quercus nigre?. L. 13S E562i£ Bark habit of Luerou^j i*u»n» 20 incite. VO feai,* . :?arl sh , j <: u i £ i aL.a • 132-a .4^. v»'>. 265919 Leaves of Q;uerc\i8 nigra. r 132-b r % 258069 Tree form habit of Ouercus nigra. This 68-year-old second-growth tree occurred in an old-field stand. Cal- houn Bend, Concordia Parish, Louisiana* 132-c soils. It also occurs on a greet variety of sites outside the bottoi’iS in the Delta region and throughout tho South, Nigra ocik is net, however, found equally conrionly on all the bottomland sites on which it occurs. It seeris definitely to prefer tho bcttGr-drained, silty clay or loony ridges, esi.?.ecially the latter, ,qnd the border-line sites between definite flats and ridges. On old fields it is often a very abundant spocios although on certain soils and in certain regions it is far outranked by rod gun in this respect. In the region of St, Londry parish, Louisiana, nigra oak is the outstanding species on old fields. In general, nigra prodeninates on second botton old fields whereas rod gun prod.cninates on first bettor: old fields. Nigra oak is comon on the better-drained flats on terracos and in pockets or depressions in well-drained ridges as well as on the ridges proper. It is rare on poorly- drained clay flats and the few spccinens found there are almost, always of poor form and quality. Its best dovolopnent is on ridges, perhaps especially on old fields. It shows no 'marked preference between first rind second bottowiS but is sorAGwhat more comon and of bettor average form and quality in first bottor.is. Forest types in which most commonly found, and most common associates: A Nigra oak is probably most common in the red gum-loamy ridge oaks type,, and next most common in tho rod gun-clay lend oaks typo on low elay or silty clay ridges, and in the red gun typo. It is also noro or less common in the willow ook- cherrybark oak-cow oak, oak-hickcry, loblolly pine-hardwood and oak-elm-ash types and it is found occasionally in several other bottoriland ty:oes. In second-grovrth stands on old fields nigra oak is occasionally tho outstanding species, but with this exception it is usually not a predominant species oven on favorable sites. It is, ho\7evor, at least an important associate species on many of its most favored sites and frequently makes .up a considorable proportion of the merchant- able volume at such places. ^ WATER OAK. - Ruercus nigra L. 133 Due to the large numher of sites and types in nhich nigra oak occurs, a list of its most common associates would be very long however , no one species, with the possible exception of red gum, can be said to be associated with it in a majority of instances. Ordinarily, in any given type the coLimon associates of nigra oak are simply the species' most common in that type. In second-growth old-field stands in the southern half of the Delta nigra oak and cherrybark oak together frequently make up 80 to 90 per cent or more of the stand. General appearance; Nigra osk generally develops a straight, tall, slender trunk and a symmetrical, round-topped crown of distinctly ascending, slender branches and branchlets. In the fcrest it frequently reaches a height of 100 to 125 feet, but the trunk is rarely massive except in individuals grow- ing in open fields or pastures or as shade trees. The trunk is usually slow to prune itself and small dead limbs or their stubs remain on the tree for a con- siderable time. The bark of young trees is very shallowly and narrowly fis- sured, tight, close, thin, and looks smooth .from a short distance. It is light grayish-brown and usually has numerous irregular patches, bands or spots (hence one common name) of a pinkish, yellowish or orange color, On older or mature trees the bark is still relatively tight, close, thin, end broken up into low, broad, roughened scaly ridges by pale, narrow, shallow fissures, in color it is dark grayish-black or steel gray, bufc there are frequent patches of smoother, ** paler bark. The leaves are extreme.ly variable (much more so than on any other bottomland oak) but generally small (2 to 4 inches long, by 1 to 2 inches wide), and tapering gradually from a broad, rounded end entire, or irregularly 5-lobed, apex to a narrowed, cuneate base end short, stout, flattened petioles, 1/8, to g- inch long. The leaves may, however, be deeply lobed with 3 to 7 short, triangular, V/ATER 0/iIi - quercus nigra L. 134 bristle-tipped lobes, or abruptly end deeply 3-lobed at 1iie epex, or Tory loog (1 to 6 or more inches), narrow and with entire mrxgins. On anoll seedlings the loaves arc generally very long, narrow and cither entire or deeply and strikingly lobed or forked. All types of leaf may be found on a single tree or but one typo may be found. The mature leaves are very dark green above, paler beneath, thin but tough end very firm, and practically glabrous on both surfaces. They rarely fall until very late in the winter and at least a few to practically all of the leaves remain until the. new leaves unfcld. Distinguishing charccterigtics; Despite their extreme variability, the leaves of nigra oak afford the best neans of identification. The various types of leaf, different as they are, will rarely be confused with leaves of other bottomland oaks, especially when thoix dark color, fiim and stiff texture, and semi -ever green character are takai into consideration. Nigra oak is character- * istically the very last bottomland oak (except the truly evorgreon live oak, Cuercus virginiana Miller and possibly obtusa oak, Quercus obtuse Ashe) to lose its leaves in the winter. Leaves of (^uercus nigra and C^uercus obtusa may occasionally be confused but there is little reason for such confusion because those of nigra , whatever their shape, are seldom distinctly widest at the veiy middle of the blade, tapering rather evenly to the base and to the apex, whereas obtusa leaves are practically always distinctly widest at the middle and taper V gradually and evenly to each end. The slender ascending branches that droop only at or near their tips, often forming a crown that reminds one of an ehn, and the tall, tight-barked, gray-black trunk, are also characteristic. The bark alone of mature trees may often strongly resemble that of cue reus nuttallii end ^^uercus palustris but the generally darker-colored, rougher bark of nigra oak, with its irregular, pale WATER OM - Cuercus nigra L. 135 smooth ond somowhat shiny patches, is generally distinctive. The bark is also darker and, roiigh-er than that, of^ obtusa oak with which it might also occasionally ^ be confused, ^ond moreover i."^ very ^rarely is warty or greenish like that of the latter tree. vThe fruit, of nigra o^., a an all, ovoid acorn in a thin, saucer- shaped cup, is- usually produced . abundantly but ordinarily is not needed to clinch an identification. Superficially it^ looks like the fruit of several other bottom- ^ land oaks, e.g; obtusa.pak and willow oak (C^uereus phellos L«)e Economic considerations; As the outstanding member of the water oak sub- group, nigra oak eften distinguished from the other species of the red oak group. It is a very important species from the standpoint of total cut over a wide area, general utility, and fair quality. Its extensive use, however, is 'of comparatively recent development, probably beginning at the senne time that the extensive exploit a ti-p.n of red gum had its origin. Nigra oak is conspicuously subject to blue and green mineral stain end ■ »'f .5 ■ r seGms_to be somewhat more. . susceptible to fire injury than most other oaks. Insects and fungi, rarely are the primary causes of serious damage. The bole usually bears ; numerous adherent branches (dead stubs on the upper part of the bole are more or loss characteristic) and the resultant pin knots constitute the greatest and most common defect of the species. It is one of the most variable rod oaks with respect to quality. The overage quality is only medium and strangely enough the poorest trees and stands ^ have attracted the most notice and tho most conmiGnt. Poor trees and stands occur on very poorly-drained, heavy soils at tho one extreme and on excessively drained, light sandy soils at the other. The la.tter condition produces unusual- ly poor specimens. iJ.1 the defects noted above, and also grubbiness, are more pronounced on poor sites. On good sites, however, such as moist, woll-draincd, WATER Oi'iK - Cue reus nigra L. i 136 locmy ridges in first bottoms, nigra oak is often abundant in ucll-stockod stands and almost always develops dean, strcdgkb and tall stems that are ex- cellent sources of lumber. The wood is hard and heavy but in its better phases has very gcod iTorking qualities. It has a mild, light reddish or tan-colored heartwood end white, unusually wide sapwood. It is put to all the varied uses for ¥hich oak timber is suitable but because of its texture and its average grade it is especially adapted to flooring. It is also well suited to railroad and structural purposesc It is almost always cut for lumber wherever found in logging operations in the Delta, but the trees are usuolly rather carefully selected and the utilization is not very close. In tie or pole operations in good stands, utilization is usually closer than average because of the favorable form. Nigra oak grows at an exceedingly fast rate. It is rivalled only by cherrybark oak rmong the oaks end compares favorably with cottonwood and lob- lolly pine. Many stands from 50 to 70 years old are logged for lumber. Nigra oak ranks with cherrybark oak as an outstanding southern oak. It has a wide ^ adaptability to various comnorcial as well as silvicultural purposes, reproduces exceedingly well and is at least normally thrifty and hardy except on the poorest sites. With cherrybark oak, which is of higher average qaality, it v. should * -be widely grown under f crest management and, within its rcuige, probably more widely than cherrybark oak because of its adaptability to a greater range of sites. WATER Oldi - r^uercus nigra L. 137 I^fOTB: This species is called ”obtusa. oak” in the following section in Bocordance with the NOTE imder water oak,' Quercus nigra L. (q.v.)* Names in use in the Delta; Water ’ oak, pin oak, spotted oak. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Obtusa oak is found in the Delta ^ probably only in the region south of the Bed River in Louisiana but possibly also in the backwater area north of the river. Throughout its limited range it occupies low wet flats, the borders of swamps, ponds, and sloughs, and wash- boardy and hummocky topography (in tho depressions). It is generally of local occurrence, but over small, isolated areas 'may be coramono Forest types in which most commonly found, end most common associates: ^ Obtusa oak is found in the rod gum-clay land oaks , overcup oak-water hickory, willow onk-cherryberk oak-co?; oak, hackberry-elm, oak-elm-ash and southern ©ypress-hardwood types. In none of these types is obtusa oak an important or common spocios except, occasionally, very locally. It is genorrally a tree of very scettorod and Infrequent occurrence. Its most comraon associates arc Nuttall oak, overcup oak,.grcon ash, American elm, water hickory, hackborry, honey locust, red gum and red maple,. General appearance : Obtusa oak at its best has a tr.ll trimk ?7ith a wide- spreading crown of stout branches and slender branchlets. Commonly, however, it ^ appears rather scrubby in appearance, with a short trunk and an irregular, much- branched, heavy crown. It is said to roach a he-ight of 150 feet with a d.b.h, of 4.5 feet but most of the specimens soon in the bottoms of central Louisiana arc less than half that size. The truik has a distinctive, thin, light-gray or greenish, very smooth, very shallowly- furrowed bark frequently marked with warts, white lichens and various excrescences. The leaves are rather small (3 to 4 t WATER OAK - Quercus obtusa Asho L 17^9, E65909 Leaves of Q.uereus obtusa. 15S-a 4 T rzo 273786 Bark habit of Quercua obtusa^ St. Landry Parish, Louisiana* 138-a3^ inches long by 1 to 2 inches wide) ,thin, very dark green and lustrous above, pale beneath, distinctly broadest at the middle of the blade and tapering one way to a narrow, acute or rounded apex and the other way to a narrow, cuncate base and a short, stout, yellow petiole, ^ to -^inch long. The nergins are entire or slightly undulate and the taper each way from the middle is of about the same degree. The leaves are very slow to fall in the winter and are possibly even more nearly evergreen than those of -luercus nigra L. Distinguishing characteristics; The distribution and habitat of obtusa oak and its bark and leaf characteristics are generally sufficient, taken as a whole, to separate this species from all others. The differences between Q^uercus obtusa Ashe and the closely allied ".uercus nigra L. with respect to hark and leaves are described in the section devoted to the letter species, obtusa oak can hardly be confused with any other oak Yd thin its limited bottom- land range save possibly willow oak (Quercus phellos L.). Shingle oak ( Tuercus imhricaria Michaux) , with which it might otherwise conceivably be confused, is even more confined within the Delta to the northernmost pert than obtusa oak is to the southern part. Willow oak has distinctly narrow, willow-like leaves of almost uniform width that are practically never distinctly widest at the middle, and the bark of mature trees is very dark, very rough, much corrugated and ridged, and very thick — in all these respects quite the opposite of obtusa oak. Economic considerations; Obtusa oak is of minor commercial importance because it is neither plentiful, easily accessible, nor of high average quality. However, it produces a fair proportion of reasonably good logs and is ordinarily cut wherever encountered in logging operations. It contributes a small amount to the output of nearly all Gulf Coast hardwood mills. Utilization in the woods is usually not close because of the habit of the tree, its low average quality and the frequently unfavorable logging conditions. 159 WATER - ^^uercus obtusa Ashe Obtusa oefc is of average susceptibility to fire injuiy but of much more than average susceptibility to nineral stain, grubs and bird peck. There is usually no serious damage from other insects cr from fungi. The trunk is apt to have many adherent limbs, especially large limbs that foim the loxver part of the crown, and trees containing more than two good logs are therefore very uncommon. Even good second logs are not common. The wood is of first-class appearance, straight-grained but hard, heavy and inclined to check badly in drying. The sapwood is cream-colored and unusually wide, ebtusa oak is cut almost entirely for lumber mills because neither the tree nor the types or sites where it is found lend themselves to cny special kind of operation (e.g., a tie operation). Since its average quality is rather low, there is a tendency for the lumber to go into lower-than -average grades and because of its texture it is used more for flooring than for furniture. It is not extensively cut into construction material, principally because of its seasoning qualities, but a snail amount of obtusa oak is undoubtedly used as railroad material and planking. WATER OAK - Quercus obtusa Ashe WILLOW OAIL - ' Cuerous piiellos _L^ Names in use in the Delta: Willow oak, pin oak (most comiTonly used), ' • / it ' . rough" barked oak. Distribution and habitat in the Delta; Willow oak is well distributed throughout the entire Delta. It is especially cannon in the Delta region of Arkansas where it is probably the most widely-distributed oak in the bottoms. On its favorite sites it is occasional to common everywhere in the Delta. Willow oak is typically found on poorly- drained flats (especially silty or loamy flats in second bottoms) that are normally covered each V7 inter with a shallow sheet or pools of standing water, the result not of overflow but of winter rains that can neither drain dom through the soil because of an im- pervious subsoil and resultant water -logged condition, nor flow off because of the low, flat or basin-like topography. In the second bottoms it is about as common on poorly-drained clay flats as Nuttall oak and it is frequently the predominant species on poorly-drained silty or loamy flats. It also occurs very commonly on washboardy topography (in the depressions), in small local f n depressions or basins in loamy ridges and, in the first bottoms, on clay ridges. It is rare on the typical first bottom flats subject to overflow by backwater (where Nuttall oak is the common oak ) , Forest types in which most commonly found, and most common associates : Willow oak is particularly prominent in the willow oak type (found principally on poorly-drained loamy flats in second ’bottoms) and in the willow oak- cherrybark oak-cow oak type (found principally on hummocky and washboardy topography, in the other bottomland types in which willow oak occurs it is rarely of more than secondary importance but is generally present and locally very common. These types are mainly the red gun-clay land oaks, red gum (on WILLOVf OAK - ruercus phellos L. 141 loT7 clay ridges; very important in first bottoms), oak-elm-ash (a cut-over variant, willov? oak-cedar eln^^is very,. common, especially in ^kGns«a>, hack- berry-eltn, oak-hickory (on flats in Arkansas), overcup oak -water hickory (as a very minor component, largely in second bottoms-) , and. loblolly, pine-hardwood types. ■ . ■ Cn clay flats in either first or second bottons-t-he mst coirtiQU. .. associates of willow oak are Nuttall oak, overcup oak', cedar elm, imerican elm, water hickory, persirmon and green ash. On clay ridges in first bottoms, red ^ gum is the chief associate. On silty or loamy flats in second botton&, winged elm is, the- most characteristic associate; other common associates are American elm, persimmon, green ash, overcup oak and water hickory. On washboardy or hummocky topography, willow oak occurs intimately mixed with cherrybark, post and cow oaks, which three are, however, on the higher elevations while willow oak is in the . depressions. Elsewhere willow oak associates with the common trees of the particular type in 7;hich it occurs. General appearance: Willow oak is a medium to large-sized tree in the Delta, not infrequently becoroing 100 to 120 feet high with a d.b.h. of 3 feet or more. It usually develops a tall, straight trunk and a full, rounded, ■ ‘ symmetrical crown of numerous slen.der branches. The trunk prunes itself rather slowly. There are usually numerous small live and dead branches that are long persistent on the trunk and greatly reduce the clear length. The lower limbs typically droop or are horizontal end droop at 'the ends. In the remainder of the crown the branches ascend but droop at the ends. There are usually abun'd-" ant short, pin or ^ur-like branchlets, especially on the lower branches, hence the name pin oak so widely used in the Delta. The trunk of sib 11 trees is light steel gray to brownish or reddish-gray, very closely appressed, very hard, WILLOW CAK - T^Qrcus phellos L. 142 2550se Bark habit of -^roua phelloo, d.b.b# E3 height ionoke Gounty, Arcana aa* l48--a 4'- 4 265914 Leaves of "ueroiis phellos. 142-b r 4 L Appearing rathar smooth from a short distancGy but actually yqttj rough, on tha surface, becoming rougher and darker toward the butt. On. large mature trees it is typically very dark grayish-black and deeply corrugated by very rough- surfaced, hard, thick ridges. The bark is exceedingly thick and the tops of ^ the ridges are usually much paler in color than the rough black areas between.. The leaves are willow-like, snail to medium-sized {2^ to 5 inches long by J to 1 inch wide), relatively long and rarrow, narrowed and acute at the ends, with entire or slightly undulate margins, vivid li^t green and rather lustrous above, dull end paler below, essentially smooth, with stout, very short (about l/t-inch long) petioles. Distinguishing characteristics: The wide distribution, well-defined habitat and distinctive habit, bark and leaves make willow oak one of the most readily identified oaks in the Delta. The one species with which it is likely to he confused, shingle oak (r-;uercus imbricaria Michaux) , is confined to the northern half of the Delta, has somewhat larger, coarser and relatively much broader leaves that have slightly thickened, revolute, frequently undulate and occasionally lobed margins, and stout downy petioles ^ to -|-inch long. The bark, fruit and winter buds of these two species are somewhat similar. ' The bark of shingle oak, however, is light brown, not black, and is not so deeply ridged or so rough as that of willow oak. With respect to the winter buds, those of willow oak are characteristically narrowly conical, not angled at all, very sharp-pointed, about l/8-inch long, and dark chestnut broTXi with well- defined, veiy pale gray or white edges on the numerous scales, so that each scale is sharply outlined and the bud has a two-colored appearance. Shingle oak buds are also about l/8-inch long and much the sane shade of chestnut brown (although usually lighter) but the scales are not edged with gray or white end each bud is of a uniform color with the individual scales veiy difficult to V/ILLCiv OIK - r^uercus phollos L. 143 distinguish.' The buds are also broader and nore o-^te than those of uillou oak and are.tusually more or less angled. ^ > 'X -Ec^homi-'c- onsiderat i oh s ; Due to its uide distribution and fair accessi- bility,:,-Mllhw bair^ of considerable commercial importance. Its average quality,. ,hQwe'ver, is only fair and locally it is often extremely poor, which makes it of.- considerably less importance than it might otherwise attain. It nevertheless makes up an appreciable part of the red oak of commerce. Willow oak is of only average susceptibility to fire injury, and fungus damage is usually light. However, grub damage, especially on poor sites, is usually very severe and willow oak is probably nore often shaky than any other oak except overcup oak. The bole usually has numerous snail adherent limbs, especially on poor sites, and second or higher logs generally have numerous unsound and black knots. The hear two od is reddish-brown and the rather wide sapwood is grayish or somewhat yellow. The grain is usually, but not uniformly, ^od. The wood checks less severely than that of most others of the water oak sub-group. The rate of growth is usually only medium but on good sites and in open stands it is extremely rapid. Willow oak is used like other oaks in a great variety of forms but because of its average grade and texture it is most commonly used for small cutting and low-grade purposes and for flooring. The tree is usually cut for lumber on almost all good sites but not infrequently is cut entirely for ties. Its accessibility, its mixture with better species and its usually long bole make it a suitable species for tie operations. On poor sites entire stands are sometimes left uncut because the quality is consistently too low for lumber. In parts of Arkansas especially, overmature willow oak stands are regularly WILLOW OiiK - guercus phellos L. 144 passed up on sight because the trees are so unifomly shaky, grubby and ninered- stained. In Louisiana such- poor stand's" aro not very coonon. There is evidently a strong relation between site and quality ..of tinber. The quality of wi llov/ oak is most variable in second bottoms where it occurs on several different sites; on clay ridges in first bottoms it is^rather uniformly cf good quality and usually somewhat better than the associated Nuttell oak. • WILLOW OJK - C.uerc'us phellos L. LAUREL OAK - Quercus laurifolia Michaux Name in use in the Delta; Laurel oak. Distribution and habitat in tlie Delta: Laurel oalc possibly occurs on the eastern irargin of the Delta in southern Louisiana. It is a Gulf Coast species that is rarely abundant anyuhcre and iDore or less confined to banks of streams, the edges of swamps, small branch bottoms in the coastal piney woods, etc. If it does occur in the Delta, it is undoubtedly present only along the eastern edge adjacent to the lower Gulf Coastal plain in Louisiana. Forest types in which most commonly found, and most common associates; Nothing definite is known of its occurrence in the Delta. General appearance: Laurel oak is a small to medium-sized tree with a tall, fairly straight trunk and rather slender branches that form a dense, rounded crown. The leaves are usually elliptic and acuminate at the ends, but occasionally lanceolate and rounded or even 3-lobed at the apex and often variously lobed on young trees. They are thin, very lustrous green above, lighter below, usually 3 to 4 inches long by about :|-i!ich wide, with a prominent yellow midrib and short, stout petioles. The leaves remain on the trees to within a few weeks of the unfolding of the new leaves in spring. The acorns are short (about -|-inch long), ovoid to hemispheric, dark brown and enclosed for about one -fourth of their length in a thin saucer-like cup. Disti nguishing characteristics; Laurel oak, if found in the Delta, could be mistaken only for live oak (Quercus virginiana Miller) and possibly water oak (