The Birches 



satiny, often showing what the cabinetmaker calls "landscape" 

 or clouded areas of unusual beauty. 



The Western Black Birch (B. occidentalis, Hook.) grows 

 from the Black Hills westward, widening its range to south and 

 north, into Alaska and California along the coast, and following 

 the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. It is widespread, but 

 nowhere common. This graceful little tree is a true birch in 

 habit and in the lustrous, horizontal lenticelled bark, the bronze 

 colour of which is quite sufficient to justify its name and to identify 

 the tree. Unlike the cherry birch, this tree sheds its bark in thin, 

 papery layers. 



The brown wood is locally used for fencing and fuel. It is 

 too small a tree to be important for its lumber. It commends 

 itself to planters in the Western States, especially where its 

 roots can get water, for it is as thirsty as an alder, following streams 

 always, or the borders of lakes. 



The White Birch of Europe (Betula alba, Linn.) we rarely 

 see. The weeping and cut-leaved varieties of this species adorn 

 American parks and gardens — their only fault, that they are 

 short lived. "Like a fair lady in a far country" is the white 

 birch here, and we cherish our specimen trees with profound 

 solicitude. 



In its own country the peasants depend upon the birch 

 forests in a great many ways. In the north of Europe birch is 

 the principal fuel in houses and smelting works. It makes good 

 charcoal. The Russians eat with wooden spoons, and wear wooden 

 shoes, both made of birch. They live in houses furnished with 

 birch furniture, and shingled with slabs of birch bark. They 

 strip and grind the soft inner bark, and mix it with meal in their 

 bread. Even the tiny winged seeds serve a useful purpose. 

 Birds, especially the white ptarmigan in Lapland, feed upon 

 them through the long, cold winters, when deep snows cover all 

 other foods. Lopped trees send up suckers which are cut and 

 bound into birch brooms. The inner bark is stripped into sheets 

 and serves for paper. The famous books of Numa Pompilius 

 were written on birch bark, if Plutarch is to be believed. Birch 

 wood contains abundance of sap. In spring a tree will often 

 yield its weight in sap in a fortnight. Birch mead and wine are 

 most refreshing beverages. Birch bark yields tannin, a yellow 

 dye, and an oil which gives Russia leather its characteristic 



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