68 HAND-BOOK OF TREE-PLANTING. 



white birch is in great demand, and birch-forests 

 are frequently bought by our manufacturing es- 

 tablishments, to the extent of thousands of acres, 

 for the purpose of securing a sufficient supply 

 for such uses. The (in one view) insignificant 

 article of shoe-pegs makes annual demands 

 upon the birch-forests to the extent of many 

 acres, these little helps to locomotion being 

 made very commonly of this wood. The white 

 birch, moreover, has large claims as an orna- 

 mental tree. What is finer than the delicate 

 ramification of its limbs, which give it a positive 

 beauty in winter, while in the leafy season the 

 contrast of the white wrapping of its silvery 

 trunk with the prevalent green of grass, and the 

 darker hues of other trees around, sets the 

 whole lawn or landscape into life ? Indeed, the 

 birches, as a whole, are among our most beauti- 

 ful trees. 



The beech is another of the nobler forest- 

 trees, carrying a denser mass of foliage than 

 most other trees, while its wood is among the 

 most useful, having a high specific gravity, great 

 value for fuel, and is held in much esteem for 

 many mechanical uses, especially in the manu- 



