The Trees of Vermoxt 227 



Yellow Bircli. Gray Birch 

 Betula lutea Michx. f. 



Characteristics. — Bark silvery yellow-gray and breaking into 

 strips more or less curled at the edges or blackish and deeply and irreg- 

 ularly fissured into large, thin plates ; sapwood thin, whitish ; heartwood 

 light brown tinged with red ; diffuse-porous ; growth rings fairly dis- 

 tinct; pores more or less uniform in size, not crowded, inconspicuous; 

 rays numerous, indistinct ; vessels without spirals. 



Qualities.- — Heavy, 40 pounds per cubic foot, seasoned ; mod- 

 erately hard ; very strong ; shrinkage 6 percent ; warps little ; close- 

 grained and compact ; not durable when exposed ; difficult to split and 

 holds nails well ; rather hard to work, but polishes w^ell. 



Uses. — Furniture, spools, flooring, shoe lasts and pegs, handles, 

 etc. 



Beech 

 Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. 



Characteristics. — Bark close, smooth, steel-gray, often mottled 

 by darker blotches and bands ; sapwood thin, whitish ; heartwood light 

 or dark red ; diffuse-porous ; growth rings obscure ; pores largest in 

 spring wood, gradually diminishing in size toward outer limit of 

 summer w*ood ; rays of two kinds, partly very broad and partly very 

 narrow ; vessels without spirals. 



Qualities. — Heavy, 42 pounds per cubic foot, seasoned ; rather 

 hard ; strong ; shrinkage 5 percent ; warps and checks during 

 . seasoning ; straight- and very close-grained ; not durable when ex- 

 posed ; moderately difficult to split ; tough ; hard to work ; difficult 

 to nail. 



Uses. — Ship timbers, flooring, tool-handles, furniture, fuel, etc. 



