In Floyd and Harrison Counties are certain small areas which were known to the early settlers as the "barrens." These areas were treeless. They were covered with a growth of some sort of oak which the natives call "scrub" oak, hazel, and wild plum. The height of the growth in any part would "not hide a man on horse back." These areas are now all under cultivation, and are no longer distinguished from the forested areas. However, many parts of the barrens are now covered with forests, but these forests are a complete stand of black oak. Last year one of these areas was cut off, and the age of the trees were ascertained to be about 65 years old. The barrens of southern Indiana and adjacent States offer a good problem for ecologists. =Remarks.=--Wood similar to that of red oak, but often much inferior. The uses of the best grades of black oak are practically the same as red oak. Where the black and scarlet oaks are associated, the scarlet oak is rarely separated from it. The two species superficially much resemble each other. The black oak is always easily distinguished by cutting into the inner bark which is yellow, while that of scarlet oak is gray or reddish. The inner bark imparts a yellow color to spittle, and the scarlet does not. When mature fruiting branches are at hand they may be separated by the appearance of the acorns. The scales of the cups of the black oak are dull, and loosely imbricated near the top while those of the scarlet oak are rather glossy and closely imbricated. The scales of the scarlet oak, however, become somewhat loose after the acorn has matured, and fallen for some time. This species is sometimes called yellow oak. Since the chinquapin oak is also often called yellow oak, it is best to always call this species black oak.