96 TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 
BLACK BIRCH. 
This tree is usually from fifty to sixty feet in height ; 
its wood is fine-grained, and very suitable for inside 
finishing, as it takes a high polish. It is found in the 
northern section of our country. The seed is ripe about 
the first of November. 
YELLOW BIRCH. 
This tree also thrives in the cooler portions of our 
country. Its height is sixty or seventy feet; trunk 
straight and circular; its twigs have a very pleasant 
odor ; its wood is very fine-grained and fit for turning. 
Its seed is ripe about the middle of October. It makes 
excellent fuel. 
RED BIRCH. 
Height, seventy feet, and about two feet in diameter. 
It was named by Michaux. Contrary to the others of 
its species, it thrives best in warm latitudes. Its seeds 
ripen in the beginning of June, and as soon as gathered 
should be sown; shield the young trees from the sun. 
CANOE-BIRCH. 
This tree is found in the northern portion of our 
country, and in British America, in the regions of the 
Saskatchewan River, it is said to reach from eighteen 
to twenty feet in circumference. The bark is very 
white, and is used by the Indians, voeyageurs, trappers, 
and traders for manufacturing the birch canoe, of which 
we hear so much in both the poetry and song of our 
country. It makes excellent firewood, and thrives in 
wet soil. The seeds ripen about the first of July. 
THE WHITE BIRCH. 
This tree is quite insignificant, its only virtue being its 
beauty; its wood is very soft and decays very quickly, 
and does not even make good fuel. 
