1696 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. ; PART Ii?. 
ofthem. Artificially, the birch recommends itself to the proprietor of woods and 
to planters, by the following qualities :—1st, By the lightness and multiplicity 
of its seeds, which it begins to produce at the age of six years; and which, 
being spread abroad on every side by the wind, give rise to a great number of 
young plants; thus producing a thick wood, without either care or labour. 
2dly, By the rapidity of its growth, and the resistance which it makes to all 
the circumstances which usually destroy trees, and eradicate woods. 3dly, 
By its power of withstanding a great degree of both heat and cold. 4thly, By 
its suffering little from the bite of cattle, and being but seldom attacked by 
caterpillars, which are said only to have recourse to it after they have de- 
stroyed all the succulent leaves in the same forest ; and which, consequently, 
being then nearly matured, can do it but little harm. 5thly, By its not 
requiring the shade or protection of other trees; while its own shade, from 
the lightness and thinness of its foliage, is extremely favourable to the growth 
of oaks, beeches, and, above all, the pine and fir tribe, which spring up under 
its protection with great vigour. Hence, the value of the birch as a nurse to 
hard-wooded trees, which it protects in their youth, but which destroy it 
when they acquire strength. 6thly, By its not injuring other trees with its 
roots, which run along the surface of the soil, and draw but very little nourish- 
ment from it. ‘7thly, By its succeeding almost every where, and improving 
poor soils by the deposition of its leaves. 8thly, By its furnishing useful 
products, such as spray for brooms, &c., a very short time after being planted. 
And, 9thly, by its producing a wood almost exclusively employed in Sweden, 
and other parts of the Continent, for smelting-furnaces ; and in other cases 
where a bright clear flame is required. Though all these advantages, says the 
author of the article Bouleau, in the Dictionnaire des Eaux et Foréts, belong to 
the birch, we cannot place it in the first rank of forest trees; and the oak, 
the beech, and other trees of stately growth, are to be preferred to it in good 
scils: but the birch cannot be too strongly recommended for light and poor 
soils, sands, and chaiks. In Prussia, he adds, the birch is planted every 
where ; and it is considered to afford security against adearth of fuel, and to in- 
sure the prosperity of the woods, by the dissemination of its seeds, which fill 
up every blank that occurs. 
The wood of the birch is white, shaded with red ; of a medium durability 
in temperate climates, but lasting a long time when it is grown in the extreme 
north. The grain of the wood is intermediate between coarse and fine. It is 
easily worked while it is green; but it chips under the tool when dry. It 
weighs, when green, 65 Ib. 6 oz. ; half-dry, 56 1b. 6 oz. ; and dry, 451b. 1 oz, 
The wood of old birch trees is harder than that of young trees, and it also 
weighs considerably more : for it appears, by the experiments of Hartig, that 
the wood of a tree of 60 years’ growth, weighed, dry, 36 lb. 13 0z.; while 
that of a tree of 25 years’ growth, in the same state of dryness, only 
weighed 35lb, 50z. The wood soon rots when laid on the ground in heaps; 
and, therefore, immediately after the trees are felled, they ought to be drawn 
out of the wood, and taken into the timber-yard, where they can be exposed 
freely to the air. As fuel, birch wood occupies the 12th place among 21 
different sorts; and is to the fuel of the beech as 13 is to 15: but, if the 
wood of the birch is to be compared with that of the beech, taken in the 
bulk, it is only as 12to 15 ; because birch logs, not being so straight as those 
of the beech, do not pack so closely together. The wood gives a clear, bright, 
and ardent flame, and affords the kind of fuel most generally used in Sweden, 
Russia, and France, for smelting-furnaces. Its charcoal remains burning a 
long time ; though, compared with that of the beech, its value is only as 144 
to 16. The bark of the birch is remarkable for its durability, remaining un- 
corrupted for ages, even in situations exposed alternately to air and water, cold 
and moisture. Pallas refers, in proof of this, to the tombs near Jenisca, in 
Siberia; and to the vaults under the Kremlin, in Moscow. When Mauper- 
* tuis travelled through Lapland, “to measure a degree of latitude, he was 
obliged to pass through vast forests, consisting entirely of birch. The soil, in 
some parts of these wastes, being very shallow, or very loose, the trees had 
