166 WOODS OF COMMERCE. 



Northern Europe and Asia. Height 40 50 ft. ; diam. 1 J ft. 

 S.G. fresh 919, dried 664. W 4549. Yellowish or reddish- 

 white to light brown, the vessels so minute as to be almost 

 imperceptible to the naked eye, a smooth transverse section appear- 

 ing as though sprinkled with flour. Kings and pith-rays 

 distinctly marked : pith-flecks numerous near the centre : wood 

 consisting of tracheae, tracheids, fibres, fibre-cells, and parenchyma. 

 Moderately hard and heavy, even-grained, difficult to split, but 

 easily worked, neither strong nor durable, and liable to the 

 attacks of worms. Burrs are occasionally produced on the stem, 

 with solid marbled wood, valued by turners, and made into cups 

 and bowls in Lapland. In many countries on the Continent, 

 Birch, as the cheapest native hardwood, is largely used for furni- 

 ture and turnery : in France it is largely used for felloes of 

 wheels, cooperage, and sabots ; and in the Scottish Highlands for 

 an infinity of purposes, including spoons and plates, as in Russia. 

 It is a valuable fuel in Northern Europe, comparing with Beech as 

 a heat-producer as 13 to 15. It also produces excellent crayon 

 charcoal, and its coppice-wood is largely used for brooms, hoops, 

 and crate-making; for tanning leather; for a yellow-brown, or, with 

 alum, a brownish-red, dye ; and, when burnt, for distilling Scotch 

 whisky and smoking herrings and hams. Birch timber is 

 imported, mostly with the bark on, from Prussia and the south of 

 Sweden, to Grimsby, Hull, and Ireland ; but that from Sweden is 

 often crooked; and the sap wood, especially if felled in the spring, left 

 on the ground, kept too long on the voyage, or stored without 

 ventilation, will become "doated" or foxed, undergoing, that is, 

 a fungoid fermentation. A new industry has been recently 

 started in Russia in the manufacture of Birch planks for export to 

 India for tea-chests. The logs are sawn spirally, as we have 

 already mentioned in the case of Basswood, and two thicknesses 

 are then glued back to back with their grains crossing so as to 

 correct warping. We are not here concerned with the manifold uses 

 of Birch bark especially in Russia, Sweden, and Scotland for 

 boxes, baskets, boots, boats, cordage, dyeing, tanning, and even 

 bread-making. The two forms known as Bttula verrucdsa Ehrh., 



