182 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 
forests by themselves, and then only to an inconsiderable 
extent. 
The aspen (Populus tremula), rare in the extreme north, 
is everywhere else pretty common. The common alder 
(Alnus glutinosa) is met with in the south up to 64° lat. 
The oak (Quercus pedunculata Ehrh.) is only found in the 
south along the coast of the Gulf of Finland ; and it forms 
but rarely woods, and these but small, as at Runsala, near 
Abo. It does not grow wild beyond 60 °35’, but cultivated 
it is met with to the north of this, as for example at Wéro 
68° Jat. The cracking willow (Salix fragilis), the lilac 
(Syringa vulgaris), the Siberian pea-tree (Caragena arbores- 
cens), the honeysuckle (Honicera caprifolium), the Tartarian 
hoaeysuckle (H. Tartarica Lin.), the Tacamahac (Populus 
balsamifera), and the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastaneum), 
&e. 
In regard to the birch it is reported by Dr. Blomqvist 
that the white birch (Betula verrucosa Ehr.), and the pube- 
scent birch (2. glutinosa Waller), growing in Finland, are 
often confounded. In the western part of the country the 
white birch is met with up to 68° 15’, in the eastern part 
of the country it is found to 66° 25’. The pubescent birch 
grows throughout the whole country, extending beyond its 
northern limits, and in the extreme north of Lapland it is 
this tree alone which constitutes the forests found there. 
In an economical point of view the birches are, after the 
Scots fir and the Norway pine, the kinds of trees of most 
importance in Finland. They supply the best firewood, 
and the wood yielded by them, which is close-grained and 
tenaceous, is made use of in the fabrication of machines, 
tools, utensils, &c. The variegated wood is especially 
sought after. The exterior layers of the bark are made 
use of in a variety of ways, and in some parts of the 
country they constitute an article of commerce. 
There were exhibited at the National Exhibition in 
Moscow, in 1882, several articles made by a boy of 11 years 
of age in Finland, to show what is done extensively by the 
