HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



the rays are uniformly small and inconspicuous. The wood is 

 somewhat less heavy, hard and strong than sweet birch, but unless one 

 has specimens to compare, distinction is often difficult. The presence 

 of a bit of the yellow, exfoliating bark in a waney specimen is always 

 a reliable index of the species. Pitch flecks are of rare occurrence. The 

 uses of the wood are very similar to those of sweet birch, though the 

 wood is not prized so highly for furniture. It makes excellent 

 flooring. 



Paper or canoe birch (Bctttla yapynfcra) gets its common names 

 from the papery nature of the bark and from the fact that the bark 

 has been rather extensively used for canoes. Its economic distribution 

 is along the northern border of the eastern half of the United 

 States and north into Canada. The only extensive stands in the 

 United States are in the Lake States and northeastern New England. 

 The wood is of medium weight, fairly hard, strong and tough, 

 close grained and uniform textured. The green wood is sappy and 

 rather heavy and difficult to handle. The wood holds its shape after 

 seasoning, turns readily on the lathe and finishes smoothly. The sap- 

 wood is nearly white and makes up the entire stem of young trees. As 

 the tree gets older heartwood, light brown tinged with red in color, 

 begins to form and is considered a defect for most uses to which the 

 wood is employed. By some this darker color is attributed to dis- 

 ease, but in reality it is the normal condition of heartwood. Pith 

 flecks are very common in this species. The rays are very fine and 

 inconspicuous and the pores are very small. The wood cannot readily 

 be distinguished from that of the gray birch and western birch. The 

 appearance of the white, papery bark is an infallible guide to the 

 identification of unpeeled logs or waney pieces. 



The principal use for paper birch is for spools, and some 40,000 

 cords, or more than half of the total cut, is consumed for this purpose. 

 It is also employed in the manufacture of shoe pegs, shoe shanks, 

 toothpicks, dowels, novelties, shoe lasts, clothespins, hairpin boxes, 

 bobbins and shuttles. The wood is too hard and heavy for ordi- 

 nary construction lumber, too soft for hardwood lumber, and not 

 striking enough in appearance to be popular for furniture or interior 

 finish. The presence of red heart unfits the timber for spools and its 

 other important uses. The bark, which is tough, resinous, durable and 

 impervious to water, is used by all the northern Indians in their 

 canoes and for baskets, bags, drinking cups and other small articles. 

 and often to cover their wigTvams in winter. It is also employed 

 somewhat in the manufacture of novelties and experiments are being 

 tried to perfect some way of separating it into its natural layers for 

 use in tipping cigarettes in place of cork. 



Gray birch (Betiila popuUfolw) is a short-lived tree of sMiall sixe 

 and little economic importance. It is most abundant in the coast ' 

 region of New England and the middle states, springing up in great 

 numbers on abandoned farm lands or on lands stripped by fire of 

 their original forest cover, later giving place to other species. The 

 wood is much like that of paper birch and is employed for the same 

 purposes. Its principal use is for fuel. The bark is somewhat the 

 i-olor of paper birch, but is close and firm instead of exfoliating in 

 paper scales. 



■Red or river birch (Bctiila nigra) occurs along streams throughout 

 the eastern half of the United States. It is nowhere abundant and 

 rarely attains large dimensions. While timbers are often of large 

 diameter near the ground, they commonly divide into numerous 

 branches at a height of from fifteen to twenty feet. The bark is 

 of a reddish brown color, mostly rough and shaggy, giving the tree 

 a ragged appearance. The wood is rather light and soft, moderately 

 strong, rather tough. The pores are very numerous and are larger 

 than in other species. The wood fibers have rather thin walls, in . 

 contrast to those of sweet and yellow birch. The rays are as large 

 as in sweet birch, but less distinct because of the lack of contrast 

 with the rest of the wood. The wood is not extensively used, but has 

 a value for various purposes, such as hoops, baskets, corework and fuel. 

 Western birch (Belxila occidentalis) is the largest of the American 

 birches, frequently measuring over four feet in diameter and one 

 hundred feet in height. It resembles the paper birch and is so 

 similar to it that its true range has not been determined. It is 

 known, however, to occur in northwest Washington and British Co- 



lumbia, but its occurrence is so infrequent that its use commercially 

 is very restricted. The wood is fairly hard, compact, fine and uni- 

 form textured. Its only known use is in the manufacture of interior 

 finish and hardwood flooring. A total of 315,000 board feet, worth 

 about $46 per thousand, was reported used for this purpose in Wash- 

 ington in 1910. It is very probable that the wood is suited to fur- 

 niture manufacture, although none has been reported as being so used. 

 The other species belonging to the birch family (Betulacece) are 

 blue beech {Caryinm), hornbeam or ironwood (Ostrya), alder 

 (Alnus) and hazel {Corylus). In structure, however, these woods are 

 quite distinct from birch which most resembles maple. One of the 

 principal distinctions between birch and maple lies in the size of the 

 rays, part of those of maple, especially sugar maple, being much 

 larger and more prominent than in birch. There are also differences 

 in color, weight and texture. Under the compound microscope a 

 decided difference is noted in the vessels of the two woods. In maple 

 the vessels are spirally marked and the perforations between segments 

 are rounded and simple, while in birch the vessels are without spirals 

 and the perforations from one segment to another are scalariform — 

 that is, crossed with little bars like the rounds of a ladder. These 

 features are enough to enable an expert to separate with certainty the 

 smallest shavings of the two woods. ' S. J. E. 



Feeding Draft Horses 



The Pennsylvania agricultural experiment station recently eon- 

 ducted a series of experiments for a period of eighty-four days to 

 determine the effect of certain kinds of feed on draft horses. The 

 conclusions reached should be of interest to those who use horses 

 for heavy hauling. The purpose of the experiments was to obtain 

 data in regard to the efliciency of three different rations for fat- 

 tening purposes, corn, oats and hay. In one of the experiments 

 cottonseed meal was used in place of oats to determine whether 

 the less expensive ration of corn, cottonseed meal and hay is 

 equally as efficient as one of corn, oats and hay. As corn silage 

 furnishes digestible nutriments at a less cost than any other ob- 

 tainable rough feed, a ration of corn, cottonseed meal, hay and 

 silage was used in comparison with one of corn, cottonseed meal 

 and hay to determine whether horses could be fed silage without 

 detriment to health or reducing the efficiency of the ration. 



The following conclusions were reached as a result of experi- 

 ments on twenty-one horses during the period of eighty-four days: 

 Silage which is made from mature corn, is free from mould, 

 has not been exposed to air too long before feeding and is prop- 

 erly supplemented with other feeds which will make up the de- 

 ficiency in protein, can be fed to horses with safety when care is 

 used to have them become gradually accustomed to it. 



Horses fed silage as a portion of their ration consumed less 

 grain, made their gains at lesser cost per pound, were sleeker and 

 better finished than when fed on rations not containing silage. 



Using cottonseed meal to replace oats resulted in a cheaper 

 ration, a larger gain, smaller cost of gain and a higher finish in 

 fattening horses. 



The cost of gains varied from 13.4 cents to 17.7 cents per 

 pound; the rate of gain, 1.59 pounds to 1.78 pounds per head 

 daily, due to selections of rations for fattening purposes. 



The rate of gain depends upon the ration used and the tem- 

 perament, disposition, age, condition and type of individual. 



The most profitable horse for feeding purposes is one that shows 

 every evidence of draft blood, with clean, short legs, wide can- 

 nons, deep and wide both in chest and in middle, showing consti- 

 tution and capacity throughout. 



There is little change in depth of body or length of body from 

 fattening, the greatest change being an increase in width and an 

 apparent improvement in the spring of rib. 



The greatest changes in form due to fattening are noted in 

 those parts of the body where the natural covering of muscle is 

 thickest. 



The height at withers is greater in a thin horse than the height 

 at croup. When finished, the height at croup is greater than that 

 at withers. 



