14 



FORESTRY BRANCH BULLETIN No. 63 



Birch comes fourth in the list. Its total consumption, 44,563,000 feet 

 board measure, is equal to 99 per cent of the total Quebec production of this 

 species reported for 1915. In fact birch is now the most important native 

 hardwood material of the wood-using industries of the province, not only on 

 account of its wide distribution throughout the province but because of its 

 qualities. It is reported to be used by twenty-one industries, leading all woods 

 in that respect. 



The general name birch includes four species: yellow birch (Betula lutea); 

 sweet birch (Betula lento), paper birch (Betula alba var. papyrifera) and white 

 birch (Betula populifolia}. In the wood-using industries yellow birch is the 



Photo 7391. J. A. DOUCET. 



Piles of native birch, maple, and ash used for the manufacture of chairs, Roxton Mill and Chair Mfg. 



Co., Ltd., Waterloo, Que. 



most important of the four species named. Yellow birch is usually found 

 mixed with maple and white spruce. It does not extend north of the basin of 

 the St. Lawrence. Paper and white birch are the most common but they do 

 not grow to so large a size as yellow birch. They are found in virgin forest, 

 but particularly on restocked land. They extend north as far as the Hudson 

 Bay drainage basin, although in that region they are small in size and of little 

 commercial value. Paper and white birch are mostly used in woodenware and 

 turnery and for making spools and bobbins. They are lighter and much softer 

 than the others. Sweet birch is claimed to possess all the qualities of yellow 

 birch and to an even greater degree. It is darker in colour, of greater density, 

 and has not so large a percentage of the less valuable sap wood. Sweet birch 

 does not occupy a wide range in Quebec. 



In general the wood of birch is fairly hard and strong, and has a fine, even 

 grain and texture. Birch wood checks easily in moist situations and presents 

 considerable difficulty in seasoning. 



