356 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE BAkK OF YOUNG BLACK BIRCH 

 TREES IS SMOOTH AND DOES NOT 

 PEEL IN PAPER-LIKE LAYERS 



has a pleasant and aromatic taste, which 

 <iistinctive feature has made this tree 

 well known among every country 

 dweller throuf^hout its entire range. The 

 name Cherry Hirch was given because of 

 the general resemblance of the form of 

 the tree and its bark to that of the 

 Wild I'.lack Cherry. Other less com- 

 mon imd less a])propriate names are 

 KiviT I'.irih. Mahogany Birch and 

 .Miiuniaiii Mahogany. 

 '1 he I'kick I'.irch ranges from New- 



foundland to western Ontario, south to Indiana, and along the Appala- 

 chian Mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. It reaches its best 

 development in southern Ontario, northern New York, northern Penn- 

 sylvania and the northern peninsula of Michigan. 



This tree reaches a height of 70 or 80 feet, and a diameter of from 

 two to three feet. It prefers rather deep, moist soil, but will grow on 

 relatively dry and rocky ground. In the southern part of its range it is 

 not unusual to find it upon rocky outcrops, on mountain tops, and along 

 rough mountain slopes. It does not grow upon .uch situations by pref- 

 erence, but because its light seeds were scattered over the rocks by my- 

 riads, and some of them fell on fertile soil between the rocks, and others 

 landed upon the little accumulation of soil that happened to occur in rock 

 crevices. There they established themselves, while other trees, with 

 larger and less buoyant seeds, could not get a foothold. 



The Black Birch can be distinguished from all other species of birch 

 by its close blackish, cherry-like bark, which does not peal off into film- 

 like layers. The young seedlings come into existence with smooth bark, 

 but it does not last long for as age increases the bark becomes rough 

 and black. Upon old specimens it breaks up into stiff, rigid and rather 

 thick flakes, but does not shed in papery rolls like the bark of the River 

 Birch, Yellow Birch and Paper Birch, with which it is frequently asso- 

 ciated. It resembles the Yellow Birch more closely than any other Birch, 

 but the latter has a distinctly yellow bark which peels off in thin, film-like 

 layers. 



If all other means of recognition fail, the Black Birch can always be 

 identified by the wintergreen-like flavor of the twigs. This is absent in 

 all other birches. The Black 

 Birch is sometimes tapped for 

 its sap just as is the Sugar 

 -Maple. The sap flows even 

 more freely than that of the 

 mai)les. It is reported that as 

 many as two tons of sap have 

 flown forth from a medium- 

 sized tree in a single season. 

 The sap, however, is used for 

 a different purpose than that 

 of the Maple. It is made into 

 a beer which has some com- 

 mercial value, and is used 

 rather freely in some locali- 

 ties. It is reported that one of 

 the ways of preparing it is to 

 jug the sap, put in a handful 

 of shelled corn, and then let 

 fermentation do the rest of the 

 job. 



The wood of the Black Birch 

 had few uses in the early days 

 Fuel was then one of its chiet 

 uses. The pioneer lumber- 

 men had little to do with it, for 

 the lumber was hard to saw 

 and rather difficult to season, 

 and it warped so badly thai 

 it taxed the lumberman's pa- 

 tience and ingenuity. The ^^ THE CONTRARY THE BARK OF 

 , . ,. . OLD BL.\CK BIRCH TREES BECOMES 



wood IS .rather heavy, strong, ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^pp ^^^^ ^^^^^_ 



hard and a large number of ULAR AND STIFF SCALES 



