The available supply of this valuable wood in the forests of the South is not known, but there is little doubt that it exists in larger quantities than any other species of oak within its range. Perhaps in total quantity it exceeds red oak (_Quercus rubra_) in the whole United States. It is quite generally distributed over an area exceeding 300,000 square miles, and toward the western part, it is the prevailing oak. The future of this oak is assured. It is now cut at a rapid rate, and doubtless the annual growth falls short of the yearly demand; but it occurs in a range so extensive that scarcity will not come for a long period. If the time ever comes in the South when planted timber must be depended upon to meet the needs of the people, this oak will fill an important place in woodlots. It does not grow as rapidly as willow oak, but its range is more extensive, and it possesses certain desirable properties not found in willow oak. The acorns are rather poor mast, and this is in the tree’s favor, for the seed will be left to grow instead of being devoured by hogs and small animals of the woods. In that respect it has an advantage over cow oak and the other white oaks which occupy parts of its range. Their acorns are sought as food by domestic and wild animals. Texan red oak prunes itself well when it grows in close stands, but is low and limby when it occupies open ground. The trunks vary in form, but are inclined to enlarge at the base, particularly when they grow in low, damp situations, as many of the best do in the South. GEORGIA OAK (_Quercus georgiana_) is one of the minor oaks of the South and has not been found outside of Georgia. It grows in the central part of the state on Stone mountain and on a few other granite hills. Whether the species originated there and was never able to work its way down to the more congenial valleys below, or whether it once grew lower down and was crowded to its last retreat by other species, is not known. But an interest attaches to it from the very fact that its range is so restricted and that its habitat is on the sterile summits. Lumbermen care nothing about this tree. Few of them ever saw it or heard of it. The trunk is small, the acorns only from one-third to half an inch long, and the leaves are of a form midway between those of pin oak and turkey oak. The characters of the wood have not been reported, but since there is not enough of it to have any commercial value, the matter is not very important. [Illustration] YELLOW OAK [Illustration: YELLOW OAK] YELLOW OAK (_Quercus Velutina_)