It should be borne in mind, however, that tests alone, and particularly when the number of samples is small, are not sufficient to decide a wood’s place as a manufacturing material. It must be tried in actual practice, and that has not yet been done in the case of laurel oak as a wagon wood. When tried out it may exhibit defects, or undesirable qualities, which are not apparent in samples employed in laboratory tests.
There is little exact information available in regard to the supply of laurel oak in the South. It is not abundant in the sense that willow oak and Texan red oak are. Neither are the trees generally of good form for lumber. Little has ever been cut, because the land where it grows is not demanded for agriculture. It occupies out-of-the-way places, and the hunter and fisherman are better acquainted with it than the lumberman.
HIGHLAND OAK (_Quercus wislizeni_) is a California evergreen with leaves commonly shaped like holly, but sometimes their edges are smooth with no sign of teeth. The foliage remains longer on this tree than is usual with evergreen oaks. Old leaves generally fall within a month after the new crop appears; but those of highland oak remain several months longer, gradually falling during the second summer. When the tree is at its best it is a splendid representative of the vegetable kingdom. Its form does not please lumbermen, for the trunk is short and rough; but the crown rises seventy or eighty feet, is symmetrical, the foliage dark green, and the general appearance is that of an enormous holly tree. Trunks are sometimes five or six feet in diameter. The name highland oak is somewhat misleading, though the species ascends to an altitude of 6,000 feet or more. It is described as a highland tree to distinguish it from the California live oak (_Quercus agrifolia_) which grows in the vicinity of the sea in California. The highland oak ranges from northern California to the international boundary, following the foothills of the mountain ranges. It occurs in dry river bottoms and washes and in desert mountain canyons. It is not choice as to soil but will grow in loam, sand, gravel, or among rocks. It is not abundant.
When it grows near the sea it is apt to lose its tree form and become a shrub. It assumes that form on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands off the coast of southern California. It grows slowly and is tenacious of life. When it has once secured a foothold it hangs on with determination, though exposed to severe storms and inhospitable conditions. The acorns do not mature until late in the autumn of their second year. They are sometimes an inch and a half long, and scarcely a third of an inch thick. The wood of this oak possesses some good qualities which are locally appreciated by wagon makers who use it for repair work. It is extensively cut for fuel, and it burns about like eastern white oak, but leaves more ashes. The dry wood weighs 49 pounds per cubic foot. It is considerably weaker than white oak and is less elastic. The summerwood constitutes a large part of the annual growth ring. It is very porous, the rows of pores running parallel with the medullary rays. This part of the wood structure is midway between that of deciduous and the evergreen oaks. The medullary rays are broad but short. When exposed on a tangential surface, they are from one-fourth to one-half inch long, and give the wood a flecked appearance. Exposed in cross section, they are from one inch to four inches in length. This applies, of course, only to large rays, easily seen with the naked eye. In quarter-sawed lumber, the rays have a pinkish color and glossy luster which are not pleasing. This tree belongs in the class with those which are in no danger of being extirpated by human agencies. It occupies land which man does not need and will never want.