270 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 



BIRCH. Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture; sapwood whitish, 

 heartwood in shades of brown with red and yellow ; very handsome, 

 with satiny luster, equaling cherry. The wood shrinks considerably in 

 drying, works and stands well, and takes a good polish, but is not 

 durable if exposed. Birch is used for finishing lumber in building, 

 in the manufacture of furniture, in wood turnery for spools, boxes, 

 wooden shoes, etc., for shoe lasts and pegs, for wagon hubs, ox yokes, 

 etc., also in wood carving. The birches are medium-sized trees, form 

 extensive forests northward, and occur scattered in most of the broad- 

 leaved forests of the eastern United States. 



1. CHERRY BIRCH (Betula lento) (black birch, sweet birch, mahogany 



birch) : Medium-sized tree ; not common. Maine to Michigan 

 and to Tennessee. 



2. YELLOW BIRCH (Betula luted) (gray birch) : Medium-sized tree ; 



the common birch of the market. Maine to Minnesota and south- 

 ward to Tennessee. 



3. RED BIRCH (Betula nigrd) (river birch) : Small- to medium-sized 



tree ; very common ; lighter and less valuable than the preceding. 

 New England to Texas and Missouri. 



4. WHITE or PAPER BIRCH (Betula papyri/era] : Generally a small tree ; 



common, forming forests ; wood of good quality but lighter. All 

 along the northern boundary of United States and northward, from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



BLACK WALNUT. (See WALNUT.) 



BLUE BEECH. 



BLUE BEECH (Carpinm caroliniand) (hornbeam, water beech, iron- 

 wood) : Wood very heavy, hard, strong, very stiff, of rather fine 

 texture and white color ; not durable in the ground ; shrinks and 

 checks greatly, but works and stands well. Used chiefly in 

 turnery for tool handles, etc. Abroad much used by millwrights 

 and wheelwrights. A small tree, largest in the Southwest, but 

 found in nearly all parts of the eastern United States. 



BOIS D'ARC. (See OSAGE ORANGE.) 



BUCKEYE HORSE-CHESTNUT. Wood light, soft, not strong, often 

 quite tough, of fine and uniform texture and creamy white color. It 



