66 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the tops of the plants to dry when the 

 soil is frozen so that the plants cannot 

 take up water. The preventive measures 

 most used consist of a light straw 

 mulch on the beds and windbreaks. 



The tops of plants affected by the 

 mulch-blight die in winter. This hap- 

 pens while the mulch is still on or oc- 

 casionally just after it is removed. The 

 roots do not die till sometime after the 

 tops, The immediate cause of death is 

 unknown. The disease may be pre- 

 vented by avoidance of heavy, close 

 mulches. Spraying with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture just before the beds are mulched 

 in the fall may also be of value. 



There are a number of needle-de- 

 stroying fungi, some of which are cer- 



tain sooner or later to cause damage 

 in the nurseries in the more moist parts 

 of the United States. They have so 

 far done little damage in our nurseries, 

 and have been little studied. Spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture at the proper 

 time will presumably prevent damage 

 from any of them. The proper times 

 for spraying have not yet been deter- 

 mined. The importation of European 

 stock should be discouraged in order 

 to avoid bringing parasites which have 

 not yet reached this country. 



A great deal of blight occurs in red 

 cedar seedlings and transplants. The 

 cause and methods of prevention are 

 unknown. Shading, watering and fre- 

 quent spraying should be tested. 



MANY USES FOR BIRCH 



FROM furnishing material for a 

 canoe in which to hunt whales 

 some hundred-odd years ago to 

 supplying New England factories 

 of today with 11,000 cords of wood 

 annually for shoe pegs and shanks is, 

 according to the Department of Agri- 

 culture, only part of the services the 

 birch tree has rendered and is render- 

 ing the people of America. 



Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the de- 

 partment states in a bulletin on the uses 

 of birch, hunted whales in a birch-bark 

 canoe. The animals were found at 

 the mouth of the Mackenzie River. 

 He failed to strike the game, and con- 

 cluded that it was probably for the 

 best. While the canoes are frail, it is 

 pointed out that the bark of which they 

 are made resists decay longer than any 

 other part of the tree. 



Tt would be difficult to estimate the 

 value of the service of the birch-bark 

 canoe in the discovery, exploration, de- 

 velopment, and settlement of the north- 

 ern part of this continent. From the 

 Arctic Circle to the Great Lakes, and 

 southward, for a centurv and a half, 

 that light but exceedingly strong and 

 serviceable vessel threaded the lakes 

 and rivers, bearing trade and carrvin 

 civilization where no other boat could 



go. The French explorers and mission- 

 aries made journeys of hundreds of 

 miles in these canoes, often carrying 

 cargoes which would seem beyond the 

 capacity of such frail vessels. 



The range of uses to which birch 

 wood is put is surprisingly large. The 

 articles into which it goes range from 

 church pews to kitchen tables, and from 

 organ pipes to newel posts. We may 

 have our first sleep in a birch crib and 

 our last in a birch coffin. The spools 

 on which we get our cotton and silk 

 thread are birch spools, and the lasts 

 on which our shoes are made are 

 likely to be birch lasts. The largest of 

 the spools hold 12,000 yards, the small- 

 est 20 yards. The wood's beauty, 

 strength, and rigidity make it promi- 

 nent as a material for musical instru- 

 ments, and the same qualities bring it 

 into extensive use for flooring. 



Many people have an idea that shoe 

 pegs have nearly passed out of use, 

 but the amount of birch previously 

 mentioned as made into pegs and 

 shanks yearlv in New England seems 

 to disprove this notion. Birch, the de- 

 partment says, is often put on the mar- 

 ket in imitation of other woods, and 

 we mav open manv a door, sit on manv 

 a chair, and write on manv a desk 



