314 THE RED BIRCH. 



The Yellow Birch is very abundant in Maine and New 

 Brunswick, and formerly constituted the greater part of 

 the wood which was brought into Massachusetts for 

 fuel. Many of the logs were of immense size before the 

 primitive forest was removed. At the present day we 

 seldom find one more than eighteen inches in diameter, 

 though many slender individuals still occupy our woods. 

 It delights in cold, damp soils, and I have seen the finest 

 standards near springs on an open hillside. The Yellow 

 Birch derives its name from the golden hue of the bark 

 that covers the trunk and larger limbs. This silken bark, 

 which is rolled into multitudes of soft ringlets, is peculiar 

 to this tree. 



THE RED BIRCH. 



The Eed Birch is a rare species, and but very little 

 known. By careless observers it might be mistaken for 

 a white birch, the redness of its bark seeming only a 

 departure from its usual type. The only trees of this 

 species I have seen in Massachusetts were in Andover, 

 in a swamp through which the Shawsheen Kiver flows. 

 If you would behold this tree to the best advantage, 

 you must follow the streams that glide along the level 

 woodlands which are inundated a part of the year. There 

 it may be seen, like some pilgrim bending worshipfully 

 over the stream, by whose beneficent waters it is sustained 

 in beauty and health. Its picturesque attractions, arising 

 from the great variety of its outlines and the peculiar 

 wreathing of its foliage around the stem, are not surpassed 

 by those of the willow, that delights in similar places. 

 The reddish whiteness of the bark and wood has given 

 the name to this tree. It is a tall, bushy tree of rapid 

 growth, rolling up its bark in coarse ringlets, which are 

 whitish with a stain of crimson. 



