THE BIRCHES 179 



These were called Wikhegan letters, and were 

 either sent to the persons for whom their mes- 

 sage was intended, or left where he could find 

 them. 



In the early days no country school could 

 have existed without a hundle of birch switches ! 

 People in northerly regions depend upon the 

 dwarf birch for fuel and for material to stuff 

 their beds. The seeds of the birch are the chief 

 food of the ptarmigan, the grouse of the Lap- 

 landers. The laborers of Scotland make vari- 

 ous articles of tableware from the birch. They 

 also make a sort of wine from the birch sap, 

 which is sweet and pleasant to the taste. Birch 

 sap is used in the preparation of Russia leather, 

 and gives it its pleasant odor. The wood of 

 all the larger birches is fine-grained and firm 

 and is much used by coopers and turners. The 

 black birch of our northern woods is rose-col- 

 ored and very valuable for cabinet work. 



The manufacture of birch oil is becoming 

 quite an industry in the Northern hardwood 

 forest region, especially in the mountainous 

 parts of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and 

 West Virginia. It is distilled from the inner 

 bark of the sweet birch, also known as black 

 birch and cherry birch. Birch oil is a colorless 

 liquid with a pleasant taste and smell, closely 



