34 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



Its chief value is for the manufacture of pulp for paper, but it may 

 also be used for fence rails, fuel, tannery or boxes. Dry weight, 

 25 pounds per cubic foot; fuel value, 40. 



The balsam poplar {Populus balsamifera, Linnaeus), or 

 rough-barked poplar, occurs farther north than the aspen, but is 

 confined mostly to the heavy clay soil of the river valleys, or to 

 the modified drift of the Cambrian areas. In the western in- 

 terior it does not appear to grow north of Lake Mistassini. At 

 Cambrian Lake (latitude 56°) on the Kaniapiskau River, it grows 

 on low terraces to ten inches in diameter, but on higher ground 

 is small and straggling. Along the lov/er Hamilton River it is 

 quite common, but above the Grand Falls, which, it may be men- 

 tioned, have 302 feet of a sheer drop and a volume of about 50,000 

 cubic feet of water per second, is not seen again till the Cambrian 

 area is reached at Birch Lake. The w'ood of balsam poplar is 

 light, soft and fine-grained, and is well-suited for the manufacture 

 of paper pulp, pails, tobacco boxes and small packing cases. The 

 tree received its name because of the balsamic sticky exudation 

 of the leaf-buds. In full foliage it is a splendid object as the 

 wind blows through its branches, displaying the brilliant colors 

 of its leaves, which are dark green above and rusty-looking below. 

 The pollen of the poplars and spruces often blows across a lake in 

 such large quantities as to form quite a thick film on its surface. 



The white or canoe birch (Bettila papyrifera, Marshall) grows 

 everywhere in the southern part of the peninsula, and often forms 

 dense thickets on hillsides which have been traversed by fire. With 

 its gleaming white trunk, luxuriant dark foliage, and open, airy, 

 graceful head, it is always a picturesque feature of the forest 

 landscape. About Hamilton Inlet it grows to ten inches in dia- 

 meter, but towards the upper waters of the Hamilton River sel- 

 dom exceeds eight inches. Northward the trees are smaller, 

 and the Indians have to import their bark for canoe-building. 

 As the semi-barren lands are approached, the mixture of dwarf 

 birches and willows growing on the hillsides form almost im- 

 penetrable thickets. 



The wood of canoe birch is light, strong, hard, tough, and 

 very close-grained. The Indians use it for axe handiles, sleds, 

 paddles, snow-shoe frames, and many other articles requiring a 

 light, strong, tough wood. There is no American species to ex- 

 cel it as a spool wood. It is also used for the manufacture 

 of bobbins, turned boxes, bowls, shoe lasts, shoe pegs, for interior 

 finishing, and for the manufacture of furniture. In the settled 

 portions of Canada most of the white birch has disappeared, but 

 in the Labrador Peninsula vast areas yet remain to be exploited. 



The heartwood is light-brown, tinged with red, but the sap- 

 wood is nearly white and quite thick. It has a fuel value of 59, 

 and weighs 37 pounds per cubic foot when perfectly dry. The 



