T 2 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Black Birch,* 



BHiilu Iciita — Linn. 



Syuoiiymous common English names for 

 this wood are sweet birch and cherry 

 liirt-h. It is one of the best known and 

 most highly prized trees of the northern 

 American and Canadian forests. It is 

 of the birch family. In shape it is 

 round, with slender branches, and in height 

 it ranges from thirty to ninety 

 feet. Its range of growth is from 

 .Newfoundland to northwestern On- 

 tario and southward to southern 

 Indiana and Illinois and along the 

 .Allegheny mountains to central 

 Kentucky and Tennessee. While 

 iM-dinarily known as black birch 

 (ir simply as birch, it is called 

 sweet birch in many localities in 

 Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New 

 York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Delaware, Michigan and Minnesota. 

 In other localities it is often des- 

 ignated as black birch, notably in 

 parts of New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, New York, New Jer- 

 .sey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, 

 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and 

 Ohio. It finds the title of cherry 

 birch in parts of New England, 

 New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 Delaware, North Carolina, Wiscon- 

 sin, Michigan and Ontario. In sec- 

 tions of Minnesota it is often 

 called river birch. In parts of 

 North Carolina it is sometimes 

 called mahogany birch, and in the 

 higher altitudes of South Carolina 

 locally it is known as mountain 

 mahogany. 



Its time of bloom is in April and 

 May. The bark is a dark, rich 

 brown and smooth when young, 

 but becomes very rough as the tree 

 grows older. Unlike the white 

 birch, its tark is not subject to 

 peeling. Branches: reddish, smooth, 

 covered with white wart-like dots, 

 sweet, aromatic. Leaves: simple, 

 alternate, with short, downy peti- 

 oles; ovate with pointed apex and 

 rounded or cordate base; finely and 

 doubly serrate; ribs, straight; 

 rived, green ;ind glossy above; dull 

 and pubescent below, but becom- -^-y 



ing smooth. Flowers: growing in 

 catkins and appearing before the 

 leaves; the staminate ones are golden and 

 long; pistillate ones in dense, shorter cat- 

 kins. Strobiles: dark green; sessile; with 

 rounded and lobed scales. Nut: obovate. 



The black birch in forest growth runs 

 from two to four feet in diameter. The 

 heart wood is dark brown, tinged with red. 

 The sap wood approximates a yellow tone. 

 The grain is close and the structure com- 



SIXTH PAPER. 



pact. In structural qualities the wood is 

 heavy aud very strong and hard, receiving 

 stains and a high satin-like polish. The 

 representative uses of the wood are for 

 furniture, interior finish, door making, ve- 

 neer making, both sawed and rotary cut; 

 woodenware and flooring. The weight of 

 the seasoned wood is estimated at forty- 

 seven pounds per cubic foot. 



IMCAI, ISLACK BllU'H. FOKKST GROWTH. 

 GRAPH MADE IN CHAULEVOI.X COUNTY. 



THOTO 

 MICH. 



This tree is one of the important timber 

 growths of the northern part of the United 

 States and of the Dominion of Canada. It 

 perhaps reaches its highest development in 

 the Adirondack region of northern New 

 Y'ork, in the northern peninsula of Mich- 

 igan and throughout Canada on a line be- 

 tween these two sections. Wisconsin, the 

 northern portion of the lower peninsula of 



Michigan and Pennsj'lvania also produce 

 excellent birch. Because of the fine phys- 

 ical characteristics of the wood and the 

 color of the heart wood (and that it lends 

 itself most readily to staining in a tone 

 very closely in imitation of that ordinarily 

 given mahogany, and, in fact, given the 

 same stain that is applied to mahogany, 

 affords a resultant furniture in combina- 

 tion with mahogany where the two 

 woods are scarcely distinguishable) 

 it has become a great favorite with 

 the furniture maker. 



The so-called mahogany bedroom 

 set of the present day is made up 

 much more largely of birch than it 

 is of mahogany. On account of the 

 greater strength of the birch, it is 

 almost inv::riably employed for the 

 making of the leg rails, side rails 

 and frame rails of bedsteads. The 

 wood is also employed very exten- 

 sively in the making of imitation 

 mahogany chairs, especially in 

 heavy work. The side and back of 

 a chair may be produced from the 

 crotch or fine striped mahogany 

 veneers, but the legs, rails and spin- 

 dles iu many instances will be 

 found to be made of black birch, 

 cunningly stained and finished to 

 deceive even the elect. However, 

 birch as a substitute for mahogany 

 is excusable iu most instances, as 

 it possesses much better physical 

 qualities, will hold its finish bet- 

 ter and withstands a breaking 

 strain to a much greater degree. 

 In interior finish it is a wood 

 that is in general vogue in the 

 United States and abroad. Its 

 rich, cheerful color and ability to 

 hold a finish makes it a favorite 

 for the trim of many rooms. The 

 door maker also prizes the wood 

 very highly, and a good many 

 1 thousands of doors are annually 



1 produced from it in the United 



States. The rails, stiles and mun- 

 tins are usually made up of birch 

 sawn veneers, glued to a core, 

 while the panels which sometimes 

 'I ;u-e of very large size are of ro- 



■ tary cut veneers glued to a filler. 



Doors thus made approximate in 

 beauty the finest produced from 

 mahogany, while in durability they 

 exceed in value doors made from 

 foreign wood. 



tb" 



Quite a portion of birch growth shows a 

 convolution of the grain which when rotary 

 cut by the veneer machine produces a most 

 charming figure and effect. Birch in both 



•Authorities quoted In the foregoing article 

 are "The Timber of Commerce." "Guide to the 

 Trees." "Principal Species of Wood," and "Check 

 List of the Korest Trees of the United States." 



