is a native of the woods of the Transcaucasian region of western Asia.
Evergreen oaks with entire leaves are represented in North America by Q. virginiana, also known as Q. virens, the live oak of the southern states; more or less abundant on the Atlantic coasts of the Carolinas and Florida, its true home is the country around the Mexican Gulf, where it rarely grows more than 50 or 60 m. inland. The oval leaves are dark-green above, and whitish with stellate hairs beneath, the margin entire and slightly recurved. The live oak is one of the most valuable timber trees of the genus, the wood being extremely durable, both exposed to air and under water; heavy and close-grained, it is perhaps the best of the American oaks for shipbuilding, and is invaluable for water-wheels and mill-work. The tree in England is scarcely hardy, though it will grow freely in some sheltered places.
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The evergreen oak of southern Europe is Q. Ilex, usually a smaller tree, frequently of rather shrub-like appearance, with abundant glossy dark-green leaves, generally ovate in shape and more or less prickly at the margin, but sometimes with the edges entire; the under surface is hoary; the acorns are oblong on short stalks. The ilex, also known as the “holm oak” from its resemblance to the holly, abounds in all the Mediterranean countries, showing a partiality for the sea air. The stem sometimes grows 80 or 90 ft. in height, and old specimens are occasionally of large diameter; but it does not often reach a great size. In its native lands it attains a vast age; Pliny attributes to several trees then growing in Rome a greater antiquity than the city itself. The wood is very heavy and hard, weighing 70 ℔ the cubic foot; the colour is dark brown; it is used in Spain and Italy for furniture, and in the former country for firewood and charcoal. In Britain the evergreen oak is quite hardy in ordinary winters, and is useful to the ornamental planter from its capacity for resisting the sea gales; but it generally remains of small size. Q. Ballota, a closely allied species abundant in Morocco, bears large edible acorns, which form an article of trade with Spain; an oil, resembling that of the olive, is obtained from them by expression. Q. Ilex, var. Gramuntia, also furnishes a fruit which, after acquiring sweetness by keeping, is eaten by the Spaniards.
In America several oaks exist with narrow lanceolate leaves, from which characteristic they are known as “willow oaks.” Q. Phellos, a rather large tree found on swampy land in the southern states, is the most important of this group; its timber is of indifferent quality.
The cork oak, Q. Suber, the bark of which yields cork (q.v.), is a native of the west Mediterranean area. In Spain the wood is of some value, being hard and close-grained, and the inner bark is used for tanning. From its rugged silvery bark and dark-green foliage, it is a handsome tree, quite hardy in Cornwall and Devonshire, where it has grown to a large size.
The valonia of commerce, one of the richest of tanning materials, is the acorn of Q. Aegilops, a fine species indigenous to Greece and the coasts of the Levant, and sometimes called the “Oak of Bashan.” The very large acorns are remarkable for their thick cups with long reflexed scales; the leaves are large, oblong, with deep serratures terminating in a bristle-like point. The cups are the most valuable portion of the valonia, abounding in tannic acid; immature acorns are sometimes exported under the name of “camatina.” The allied Q. Vallonea of Asia Minor likewise yields valonia.
Some oaks are of indirect importance from products formed by their insect enemies. Of these the Aleppo gall (see Galls) is yielded by Q. infectoria, a native of Asia Minor and western Asia. Q. coccifera, a small bush growing in Spain and many countries around the Mediterranean, furnishes the kermes dye (Kermes). Q. persica, or according to some Q. mannifera, attacked by a kind of Coccus, yields a sweet exudation which the Kurds collect and use as manna, or as a substitute for honey or sugar in various confections (see Manna).
OAKHAM, a market town, and the county town of Rutland, England, 94 m. N. by W. of London by the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 3294. The church of All Saints ranges in style from Early English to Perpendicular, belonging in appearance mainly to the latter style. Of Oakham Castle, founded in the reign of Henry II., the principal remnant is the notable Norman hall, used as the county hall. The manor came in the time of Henry II. into the hands of Walcheline de Ferrers, and subsequently passed, through many owners, to the duchy of Buckingham, whence it descended to the earls of Winchelsea. A peculiar custom attaching to the manor is to claim a horseshoe from every peer who, for the first time, passes through the town. Flore’s House in the main street is an interesting building dating from the 13th century. Oakham school was endowed as a grammar school by Robert Johnson, archdeacon of Leicester, in 1584; it now has classical and modern sides. Not far from the town are the kennels of the Cottesmore hunt.
OAKLAND, a city and the county-seat of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., situated opposite and about 6 m. distant from San Francisco, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Pop. (1890) 48,682; (1900) 66,960, of whom 17,256 were foreign born, 3197 being Irish, 2742 German, 2026 English, 1544 English-Canadians, 1020 Portuguese and 994 Swedish; (1910 census) 150,174. It is the terminus of the Ogden branch of the Southern (formerly Central) Pacific, of the Coast Line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, and of the Western Pacific railways. Passengers and freight from the East to San Francisco are transferred by ferry from Oakland. A branch of the bay (called Oakland Harbour) divides Oakland from Alameda, and the railway piers of Oakland run directly out into the bay for more than 2 m. toward San Francisco, thus shortening the ferry connexions. Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, a favourite pleasure resort, is the centre of the city’s park system. Oakland is the seat of California College (co-educational, Baptist, opened in 1870), and of St Mary’s College (Roman Catholic, 1863) for men; and in the suburban Village of Mills College, west of the city, is Mills College (non-sectarian, 1871) for women, an institution of high rank. Electric power for the city is derived from Colgate, on the Yuba river, 219 m. distant. Oakland has important manufacturing interests, the total Value of its factory products in 1905 being $9,072,539, 69% more than in 1900.
The site of the present city (as well as that of Alameda and Berkeley) lay originally within the limits of a great private Mexican grant which was confirmed by the United States authorities. A settlement was begun—at first by “squatters” in defiance of the private claim—in 1850; in May 1852 this was incorporated as a town (the name being derived from a wood of oaks in the midst of which the first settlement was made), and in March 1854 it was chartered as a city. In 1869 it was selected as the western terminus of the Central Pacific, a choice which greatly promoted Oakland’s commercial importance. The water front was recklessly given away in 1852, and the resulting disputes and litigation lasted for more than thirty years; in 1908 the water front reverted to the city. The population increased more than sixfold from 1860 to 1870, and doubled in 1900–1910. It became the county-seat in 1874. In December 1910 a commission form of government was adopted.
OAKUM (O. Eng. ácumbe or—œcumbe, tow, literally “off-combings”),
a preparation of tarred fibre used in shipbuilding, for
caulking or packing joints of timbers in wood vessels and the
deck planking of iron and steel ships. Oakum is made by preference
from old tarry ropes and cordage of vessels, and its
picking and preparation has been a common penal occupation
in prisons and workhouses. White oakum is made from untarred
materials.
OAMARU, a municipal borough on the east coast of South Island, New Zealand, in the county of Waitaki and provincial district of Otago; on the main railway between Christchurch (152 m. N.E.) and Dunedin (78 m. S.S.W.). Pop. (1906) 5071. It is the outlet of the largest agricultural district in New Zealand. A breakwater and mole, constructed of blocks of concrete. enclose a commodious basin, forming one of the safest harbours in the colony. The export of frozen meat is important. The town is built of white Oamaru limestone. Brown coal is obtained at the entrance of Shag Valley, 40 m. S. The district is famed for its stock, and the fine quality of its grain; also for the character of the English grasses laid down there, which flourish in a rich black loam on a limestone formation.
