IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 49 



that when fresh it will not float in water. It is used for ships' 

 keels, machinery, furniture and other purposes where strength,, 

 hardness and durability are required. Red Birch twigs furnish 

 the best material for rough brooms. Bark of a somewhat aromatic 

 odour. Several Birches occur in Japan, which might well be tried 

 here. 



Betula lutea, Michaux. 



The Yellow or Gray Birch of North-East America. Height to 80 

 feet. Adapted for moist forest-land. In timber similar to B. lenta. 

 The wood is used for shoelasts. 



Betula nigra, Linne. 



The River-Birch of North America. One of the tallest of Birches. 

 If grown on the banks of a limpid stream it will bear intense heat. 

 The wood is compact, of a light colour, easily worked, excellent 

 for turnery, also in use by cabinet-makers and carriage-builders; 

 well adapted to sustain shocks and friction (Robb). It is also 

 used for bowls and trays, the saplings and branches for hoops. 

 The bark is well adapted for rough roofing. 



Betula papyracea, Aiton. 



The Paper-Birch of North America. A larger tree than B. alba, 

 with a fine-grained wood and a tough bark ; the latter much used 

 for portable canoes. It likes a cold situation. 



Boehmeria nivea. Gaudichaud.* 



The Ramee or Rheea. Southern Asia, as far east as Japan. This 

 bush furnishes the strong and beautiful fibre woven into fabric 

 which inappropriately is called grass-cloth. The bark is softened 

 by hot water or steam, and then separable into its tender fibres. 

 The best is obtained from the young shoots j it is glossy, tough and 

 lasting, combining to some extent the appearance of silk with the 

 strength of flax. The ordinary market value of the fibre is about 

 40 per ton ; but Dr. Royle mentions that it has realised, at 

 times, 120. The seeds are sown on manured or otherwise rich 

 and friable soil. In the third year, or under very favourable cir- 

 cumstances even earlier, it yields its crops, as many as three 

 annually. The produce of an acre has been estimated at two tons 

 of fibre. This latter, since Kaempfer's time, has been known to be 

 extensively used for ropes and cordage in Japan. Rich forest- 

 valleys seem best adapted for the Ramee, as occasional irrigation 

 can be there applied. In the open grounds of Victoria it suffers 

 from the night-frosts, although this does not materially injure the 

 plant, which sends up fresh shoots, fit for fibre, during the hot 

 season. The plant has been cultivated and distributed since 1854, 



