no 



LIST OF FOREST-TREES. 



powdered. The value of the charcoal 

 in the manufacture of gunpowder is 

 well known. 



ys that horses, cows, sheep, 



and goats eat it, hut that swine refuse 



it. The tongues of horses feeding 



upon it are said to turn black during 



f.ngent, and most 



probably unwholesome to animals as 



food, in low damj) situations, by the 



fee., it makes the 



:t grows in such situa- 



tions freely, where the thorn or quick 



will make" little or no progress. In 



damp situations it is an useful coppice 



onomical properties of 



the \ f the common alder 



enumerated below have not hitherto 



proved ; they are ornamental, and 



position in the damp 



margins of wr 



nerican species are considered to 



ferior to the common alder as 



; vis the uses of the wood and the 



j it are there any proofs 



of the comparative value of the Si- 



berian and European species, beyond 



that of giving variety to the effects of 



foliage in plantations. 



or Forest Species, and for Orna- 

 ment, Sfc, 



ALDER-TREE I aireof Ft. 



:i ....... glittiiwsa. . .Britain . . .-5 



r ; it'nteis - 



:;.iti- i-innnjinatu. . ' - 



...... - 



.-', . (1. /iii'imadi .... 



nlia . . - 



..n^-lvd. oblorw&tm . . .S. Europe 



,. Klliptic-lvd elliptn-a 



.i-d 



''"///" 



..... trrrn/ntn 



(a 

 . ........ ///'//. YJ 



...... - 



Dwarf .......... fiu/ni/ii ..... - 



, . - 



ill ! 



int. 



AJ . ]'. I tin- "//"'/;/. imliri- 



pcd, ami thn-t-i: 



,vo-Hi,\v- 

 ,ue; ecd, 01. 

 .-/ Autumn or spring; 

 to be kept in dry, cool sand, from the 



Kun>: 



N. AiniT. 



r.,n.iil;i 

 N. Aim-r. 



time it is ripe until it is so\vn. Soil 

 The birch will grow in every descrip- 

 tion of soil, from the wettest to the 

 driest. Uses The wood is chiefly 

 used by the wheelwright and turner; 

 it affords good charcoal ; its soot is 

 esteemed as an ingredient in printers' 

 ink ; the bark is of use in dyeing wool 

 yellow; but the chief use of the tree 

 is for underwood. The spring sap of 

 the birch-tree has a saccharine qua- 

 lity, and is sometimes made into wine. 

 The weeping birch is a very orna- 

 mental plant. 



The common birch is found in the 

 highest latitude or limits of the growth 

 of trees. In the 70th degree of north 

 latitude, its stature is reduced to that 

 of a shrub, and it is singular that the 

 opposite extreme of a warm or dry 

 atmosphere has a similar effect in 

 preventing its growth. Michaux as- 

 sumes the 45th parallel as the limit 

 below which the common birch is only 

 accidentally found in forests, unless on 

 high elevated sites where the tempera- 

 ture is sufficiently low. Although the 

 merits of the wood of the birch will 

 not allow of its ranking as one fit for 

 planting on soils where the more 

 valuable forest-trees will attain to due 

 perfection of growth, yet for certain 

 poor elevated soils it is highly valuable, 

 and on very wet or springy laud it will 

 be productive ; there are instances 

 known of its produce on soils so poor 

 as scarcely to carry any thing else but 

 moss, affording in ten years growth 

 the value of ten pounds per acre. In 

 the northern parts of Europe it attains 

 to seventy feet in height, and two feet 

 in diameter. In Sweden, Norway, 

 and Finland the inhabitants avail 

 themselves of its wood, bark, leaves, 

 and sap, for a great variety of eco- 

 nomical uses, for almost all the 

 implements of husbandry, elegant, 

 articles of furniture, for bowls, plates, 

 spoons, chairs, Sec. The bark is used 

 for the manufacture of boxes, baskets, 

 and sandals : its durability is so great 

 that it is used in preserv ing parts from 

 decay by wrapping it round them. 

 The Laplanders prepare the skin of 



the rmi-uYrr with the bark-. They 



cut the bark into small pieces, which 



nd afterwards boil in 



with the addition of a little salt. 



.ms are plunged repeatedly into 



this decoction warmed, and are allowed 



