Chestnut oak

“ Chestnut oak has a wide range of uses. It is classed as white oak in many markets, but few users buy it believing it to be true white oak. It is coming year by year to stand more on its own merits. Some sawmills which formerly piled it and sold it with other oaks, now keep it separate, and some factories which once took it only because it came mixed with other oaks, now buy it for special uses, and make high-class commodities of it. One of these is mission furniture, which has become fashionable in recent years. ”

“ Chestnut oak is primarily a northeastern tree, extending into the South along the Appalachian highlands into northern Georgia and Alabama where its range overlaps that of swamp chestnut oak, and its leaves lack the dense pubescence found on those of swamp chestnut oak. ”

“ In many instances the chestnut oak’s acorns do not wait to fall from the tree before they sprout. Like the seed of the Florida mangrove, they are often ready to take root the day they touch the ground. The large acorn is stored with plantfood which sustains the growing germ for some time, and the ground must be very hard and exceedingly dry if a young chestnut oak is not soon firmly established, and good for two or three hundred years, if let alone. ”

“ The probable future of chestnut oak is an interesting problem for [244] study. Few steps have yet been taken looking toward providing for generations to come. Chestnut oak has been left to take care of itself. The trees, produced in nature’s way, have been ample to supply all needs in the past, and they will be for the near future. ”

“ It has been variously called tanbark oak, chestnut oak, California chestnut oak, live oak, and peach oak. The trunk, branches, and foliage look much like chestnut. The leaf is like the chestnut’s, but it is evergreen. There are three or four crops on the tree at one time, and none fall until they are three or four years old. Young leaves are remarkably woolly, but late in their first summer they get rid of most of the fuzz, and become thick in texture. ”

“ The white oak is the handsomest species, and takes its name from the very light color of the bark on the trunk, by which it is easily known. The leaves are long in proportion to the width and deeply divided into lobes, of which there are three or four on each side. There is a great variety in the shape of oak-leaves, those of our white oak being long and slender, while the red oak has very broad ones, and the foliage of the scarlet oak is almost skeleton-like. The chestnut oak has leaves almost exactly like those of the chestnut. ”

“ The crests of chestnut oak ridges are often cut bare of this species. The trunks are made into crossties, and the larger branches are peeled for their bark. The nuts germinate on top of the ground as soon as they fall, or even before they fall. Usually a large percentage germinate. The tree grows rapidly where soil conditions are at all favorable. It is believed that this species should be used to reforest the chestnut oak ridges of the State, and possibly it would be one of the best to employ on the slopes of other poor ridges. ”

“ Wherever there are small trees there are old mature trees or remains of them nearby. For this reason the present distribution of black oak on the area is thought to fall entirely within the area occupied by the original forest. At present it occurs throughout most of the woodland except in the warmer and drier situations, such as on south slopes. In some hilltop situations it is common, with occasional large mature trees. In some parts of the bottomland and lower slopes it is abundant also, but there are scarcely any on the upper dry rocky slopes that are the preferred habitat of chestnut oak. ”

“ Smooth, glossy twigs, move apt to be ridged than those of the white oak. Alternate leaf-scars. The acorn is covered nearly halfway with a thick cup. The kernel is sweetish and edible.
The chestnut oak is distinguished in winter by its beautiful smooth bark and by its pointed buds, entirely unlike those of the other white oaks. It sometimes grows to be a large tree, but in New England it is usually middle-sized or small.
The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained, and is used for making fences, railway ties, and for fuel. The bark is rich in tannin, and is used for tanning leather. ”

“ The Chestnut Oak (Quercus densiflora) seems to have come from the coast range around the head of the Sacramento Valley, like the Chamaecyparis, but as it extends southward along the lower edge of the main pine-belt it grows smaller until it finally dwarfs to a mere chaparral bush. In the coast mountains it is a fine, tall, rather slender tree, about from sixty to seventy-five feet high, growing with the grand Sequoia sempervirens, or Redwood. But unfortunately it is too good to live, and is now being rapidly destroyed for tan-bark. ”

“ Along both the upper and lower outcrops, elm and hackberry are especially prominent. Chestnut oak is abundant along the outcrops and on the rocky slope between them in some situations. Ash grows abundantly on some upper slopes but there are few growing on the upper outcrop. On the terrace, elm, ash, hackberry, honey locust, coffee-tree and black oak are abundant. On the lower slopes grow most of the blackjack oaks, post oaks, red oaks and mulberries.
Even greater differences in the local aspect of woodland on the hillsides are caused by slope exposure. ”

“ Where it is found it is generally such a common tree that the areas are commonly called chestnut oak ridges and are regarded as our poorest and most stony land. In Floyd and Clark counties it is usually associated with scrub pine. In the remainder of its range it is generally associated with black jack post and black oaks. In our area this species is never found closely associated with limestone, and reports of this species being found on limestone areas should be referred to Quercus Muhlenbergii. ”

“ Table 1 shows the percentages of different kinds of trees a foot or more in trunk diameter on different slope exposures sampled. Elm is almost always the dominant tree, making up from one-fourth to one-half of the total stand. The other species dominate relatively small areas. Chestnut oak usually makes up a substantial part of the stand on hilltops and slopes of north, east, or west exposure. Black oak, red oak, and walnut may be prominent on the east and west slopes. Walnut and locust are prominent on south slopes. ”

“ The large remaining area of timber growth in which chestnut oak appears is the Appalachian range through eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and the fact that it is comparatively plentiful in the forests of the Appalachian range will tend to bring it more and more into prominence as a factor in the making of wagons, cars, boats, staves, and furniture as the other oaks become scarcer. ”

“ Nevertheless, the small remaining groves of blackjack oak and post oak are on slopes that face south, southeast, or southwest, and probably under original conditions they occupied these situations, separate from the forests of other hardwoods. Slopes facing east, west, and north, are more similar in relative abundance of various kinds of trees, and they do not differ much from hilltop edges that are wooded. Chestnut oak and hickory are most abundant on north slopes, and ash occurs mainly on north slopes. ”

“ The acorns are very large, the cup is extremely rough and there is a noticeable fringe around the edge. The wood is dark brown, the strongest of the oaks, and is highly valued. The chestnut-oak is a magnificent tree, one of the most beautiful of the oaks. ”

“ Nature was in a good mood when the chestnut-tree came forth. It is, when well grown, a stately tree, wide-spreading, and of great size. Even in the forest the chestnut is a noble tree. But one never sees its full development except when it has grown in the open fields. It then assumes immense proportions. Having a tendency when cut down to send up many shoots from the stump, old trees are often found with four or five trunks springing from the same root. In such cases, no other American tree covers so wide a space of ground. Not even the oak attains to greater size or longevity. ”

“ The chestnut in England has in modern times been treated with less courtesy than it deserves. It is a better tree in many ways than the elm, which is usually placed only a step or two below the oak. It may not be so graceful, but it is beautiful notwithstanding, and far less treacherous. In such esteem, indeed, was it held by our ancestors that many of their beautiful half-timbered houses, which a careless posterity supposes to have been invariably built of oak, were largely constructed of chestnut, while many an old house is full of admirably carved and polished chestnut furniture. ”

“ Asiatic chestnuts and hybrids are more likely to develop into forest trees when planted on cool, moist, fertile situations; (2) in their silvicultural characteristics they are more nearly like our native yellow-poplar, northern red oak, and white ash, than like our American chestnut and native chinkapins; (3) with respect to tolerance of shade, they are much like our northern red oak; and (4) neither the Chinese nor the Japanese chestnut has quite the same forest-type growth as that of our native American chestnut. ”

“ Pursuing our course from north to south, we find the beech giving place in lower latitudes to varieties of oak; and it is one of the effects of this movement that other oaks appear at first in scattered colonies, as does also the chestnut, which, aside from its requirements as to the composition of the soil, seems to find, especially in southern Europe, the conditions normal to its forest development. ”

“ The chestnut timber used for building is the sweet or Spanish chestnut (Castanea edibilis) , not the common horse chestnut, which is a whitish wood of but little use. The Spanish chestnut is grown only to a small extent in Great Britain at the present time; it may be known by the leaves being smoother, more parallel, and not radiating so decidedly from one stalk. Spanish chestnut closely resembles coarse-grained oak in colour and in texture, and the wood in all its stages of manufacture is frequently mistaken for oak. The bark of the log is like oak bark. ”

“ The chestnut is found in the temperature regions of central and southern Europe, northern Africa, China, Japan, and eastern North America. The wood is valued in construction, and the much-prized nuts are regarded as a food rather than a confection. European chestnut wood was once high in favor, although examination of structures in which it was supposed to have been used indicates that in some instances oak had been mistaken for it and had been employed in its place. ”

“ So far these have shown themselves to be quite tender varieties. I do not consider the chestnut worthwhile because of the constant threat that if a grove should be started it might soon have the blight in it.
I have several Chinese chestnut seedlings which are making a fairly good growth and in time may become productive trees.
We have one hybrid white oak which has an edible kernel but out of about one hundred nuts you might get one wholesome one free from weevils. The tree is very old and is rapidly declining. The nut is small but the tree is quite prolific. ”

“ Another of our ornamental nut trees is the chestnut, also of the oak family, classified under the genus Castanea, which grows into a large, beautiful tree with wide-spread branches. Chestnuts do not grow well on limestone soil and always fail in the heavy blue clay so common on farm lands in this part of the country. It is best for their growth that the soil be gravelly and slightly acid. ”

“ The largest known chestnut tree is the famous Castagno di cento cavalli, or the chestnut of a hundred horses, on the slopes of Mount Etna, a tree which, when measured about 1780 by Count Borch, was found to have a circumference of 190 ft. The timber bears a striking resemblance to that of the oak, which has been mistaken for chestnut; but it may be distinguished by the numerous fine medullary rays. Unlike oak, the wood is more valuable while young than old. When not more than fifty years old it forms durable posts for fences and gates ”

“ A comparison of sections across the grain of Oak and Chestnut allows of no possibility of mistake, and it is now known that whilst the wood of young Chestnuts is tough and durable, that from old trees is brittle and comparatively worthless, except for firewood, which is exactly the opposite of Oak-wood. ”

“ But although we may safely dismiss the notion that chestnut is of the value formerly supposed, yet its timber is not without its uses; it is employed for smaller beams, gate-posts, piles, and other purposes where large timber is not required. Its best use is for poles, for which purpose chestnut may be employed as nurses to oak, thinning out the former as growth advances. ”

“ The forester who may undertake to grow chestnut oaks must exercise great care in transplanting the seedlings, or the tap roots will be broken and the young trees will die. The best plan is to drop acorns on the ground where trees are expected to grow, and nature will do the rest, provided birds and beasts leave the acorns alone. ”

“ In some parts of the United States forestry experts can tell where they are by the local tree growth. For example, in the extreme northern districts the spruce and the balsam fir are native. As one travels farther south these give way to little Jack pine and aspen trees. Next come the stately forests of white and Norway pine. Sometimes a few slow-growing hemlock trees appear in the colder sections. If one continues his journey toward the equator he will next pass through forests of broad-leaved trees. They will include oak, maple, beech, chestnut, hickory, and sycamore. ”