B E r 



near the fi'.rface, the grouiiJ will become firm and di-y. Tl'.e 

 "■rowth of gvafs is not materially obllruded by the fliade of 

 alder. In the highlands of Scotland, near Diuidouald, Mr. 

 Pennant favs, the boughs cut in the fummer fpread over 

 the fields, and left during the winter to rot, are found to 

 anfwer the purpofc of a manure. In March the ground is 

 cleared of the undecayed part^, and then ploughed. The 

 ftedi gathered leaves are covered witli a glutinous liquor, 

 which fonic people flrew upon their floors to deilroy fleas; 

 the fleas entangling themfelves in the tenacious liquor, as 

 birds do in bird-lime. This tree affords food to many kinds 

 of moths, and other infefts. Horfes, cow?, goats, and 

 fhecp, eat it ; but fwine refufe it. The tougnes of horfes 

 who feed upon it are turned black ; and feme pcrfons fup- 

 pofe that it is not wholefome for them. 



7. B. incana, hoary alder. Linn. Syft. 849. Suppl. 417. 

 Hall. Helv. n. 1631. Villars Daupli. 2. 790. Pallas Rofs. 

 64. Da Roy Harbccc. 1. 109. Gmclin. Sib. i. 171. 

 n. 24. 2. B. ahnu incana. Lin. Spec. 1394. Reich. 4. 

 127. B. viridii. Viliars Dauph. 2. 789. Alnus folio in- 

 cano. Bauh. pin. 428. Rail hill. 1410. A. incana et hir- 

 fnta. Bauh. Hill. 1. P. 2. p. 154. Varieties. u..Y>. glaura, 

 glaucous-leaved alder. " I>eaves glaucous beneath ; petioles 

 red." /3. B. angnlata, elm-leaved alder. " Leaves green be- 

 neath ; petioles green." " Peduncles branched ; leaves 

 roundiOi, elliptic, acute, pubefcent underneath ; axils of the 

 veins naked ; llip'.iles lanceolate." This fpecies is totally di- 

 llinfl from the common alder, both in the llrufture of its 

 parts, and its economical ufes. It never attains the fize of 

 that, and is commonly (hrubby ; the trunk is fcarcely 

 thicker than a man's arm ; the wood is white, and of a 

 clofer texture. A native of the Alpine and Subalpine parts 

 of Swilferland, Dauphinc, in eaftern Siberia, in the idands 

 beyond Karr.tfchatka, &c. Introduced into the Kew gar- 

 den, in 178c, by Mr. John Bufh. The varieties of the 

 hoary alder are the cut-leaved, the dwarf Alpine, the long- 

 kaved, and the rofe-flowcred, with petal-like braftes pro- 

 duced from the male catkin. 



8. Y>. populiJoTia, pophr-leaved birch. Ait. Hort. Kew. 3. 

 336. " Leaves deltoid, drawn out to a long point, une- 

 qually ferrate, very fmooth ; the fcales of the (Irobiles hav- 

 ing roundilh fide lobes; petioles fmooth." 



g. B. papyracea, paper birch. i\it. Hort. Kew. 3. 337. 

 " Leaves ovate, acuminate, doubly ferrate; veins hirfute un- 

 derneath. Both thefe lall fpecies are natives of North Ame- 

 rica. Cultivated in 175a by Archibald, duke of Argyle. 



TO. B. excel/a, tall birch. Ait. Hort. Kew. 3. 337. 

 " Leaves ovate, acute, ferrate ; fcales of the (Irobiles having 

 the fide lobes rounded ; petioles pubefcent, fliortcr than the 

 peduncle." A native of North America, Introduced into 

 Kew garden, about the year 1767, by Mr. James Gordon. 



11. B. oblongata, Turky alder. Ait. Hort. Kew. 3.338. 

 Miller. DiA. ed. 7. n. 2. A. fol. oblongo viridi. Bauh. pin. 

 428. Varieties, a. foliis oblongis, oblong-lcaved Turky 

 aider. /9. foliis ellipticis, oval-leaved Turky alder. " Pedun- 

 cles branched ; leaves oval, obtufifh, glutinous ; the axils of 

 the veins naked underneath." Common in Aullria and Hun- 

 gary, whence Mr. Miller received the feeds. Cultivated by 

 him in Kew garden in 1759. 



12. ^.fdnitlala, notch-leaved alder. Ait. Hort. Kew. 3. 



338. " PeduucLs branched ; leaves obovate, acute ; veins 

 and their axils viilofe underneath ; ilipnlcs oval, obtufe." 

 A native of Pennfylvania. Cultivated in Kew garden in 

 '759 '^y Peter Collinfon, Efq. 



13. B. cr'ifpa, curled-leaved alder. Ait. Hort. Kew. 3. 



339. " Peduncles branched ; leav-s ovate, acute, fomewhat 

 waved ; veins hairy ynderiicath ; asils naked ; llipuleb round- 



BET 



iHi-ovate." A native of Newfoundland and Hudfon's bay. 

 Introduced into Kew garden, in 1782, by the Hudfon's 

 bay company. 



14. B. daur'ica. Pallas it. 3. 224. t. kk. f. 4. ab. fl. rofs. 

 do. t. 39. Gmel. Sib.T. 167. & 2. " Leaves ovate, acu- 

 minate, ferrate, hairy on the nerve." Scarcely diRinguidi- 

 able, when young, from the common birch, except by the 

 leaves, not growing fo tall, and the trunk not exceeding a 

 foot in diameter ; bark gray, cleft longitudinally, and divid- 

 ing into brown fcales, as if burnt ; branches more fubdivided 

 and upright ; leaves harder, commonly fmailer, on fhorter 

 petioles ; ftipules lanceolate, gray, fubpubefcent, decidu- 

 ous ; male catkins at the end of the twigs of the preceding 

 year, two or three together, larger than thofe of the common 

 birch ; females from the fame twigs lateral, thicker, with 

 larger, and more rounded fcales ; the feed larger, furrounded 

 by a narrower membrane ; differing from the black Ameri- 

 can birch by having fmailer ftipules, and leaves Itfs frequently, 

 and never doubly ferrate. The wood is hard, yellower than 

 that of the common fort, and in old trees marbled with brown 

 and gray towards the middle ; tougher, and therefore more 

 fit for cart-timber and the ufc of tlie wheelwright ; alfo em- 

 ployed in making charcoal. A native of Dauria. 



15. B. fniikqjfa. Pallas, it. 3. App. 758. n. 133. t, kk. 

 f. I, 2, 3. fl. rofs. 6. 2. t. 40. A. B. C. Gmel. Sib. i. 167. 

 var. 3. t. 36. f. 2. " Leaves rhomboid-ovate, equally fer- 

 rate, fmooth." Always fhrnbby, rifing with feveral ftems 

 from the fame root, in boggy places not an inch thick, nor 

 higher than a m.an's ftature, but on mountains attaining the 

 thicknefs of the human arm, and growing to a much loftier 

 height ; much branched from top to bottom, and of a very 

 different habit from the common birch ; the cuticle afli-co- 

 loured with tranfverfe iliipes ; the wood not fo white, and 

 waved tranfverfely ; the twigs almoll covered with little rc- 

 finous dots found more or lefs in the other fpecies; buds 

 more copious and always alternate ; two leaves commonly 

 from the fame bud, fofter than thofe of the common fort, 

 and decaying fooner ; having three feeds to each fcale, of the 

 fame fize and form with thofe of the B. nana. Abundant 

 in marfhcs and on rocky mountains, and in the cold subal- 

 pine regions of eaflern Siberia, efpecially towards the lake 

 Baikal. 



Propagation and C:tlt:ii\: The birch-tree may be cultivated 

 either by young plants procured Jrom the woods where they 

 naturally grow, or by feeds carefully gathered in autumn, 

 as foon as the fcales begin to open, otherwife they will drop 

 and be loft. As thefe feeds are final!, they iliould not be 

 buried above a quarter of an inch deep in the ground. Mr. 

 Miller recommends autumn as the beft feafon for fowing 

 them ; but Mr. Boutcher direfts to fpread the feeds thin on a 

 floor till dry, to mix them with loofe fand, and to keep them 

 in an airy place till the beginning of March, when they fhould 

 be fown on frefh light land, trenched or dug the preceding 

 autumn, made very loofe, raked fine, ,a:id divided into beds 

 three feet and a half wide. It is needlefs to throw any earth 

 over them ; but in dry and frofty weather, a fmall quanuty 

 of peafe-haulm may be thrown over them for three or four 

 weeks, till the feeds begin to vegetate. The ground fhould 

 then be kept clean, and three or four gentle waterings may 

 be given at noon in April, and repeated to the middle of 

 June in mild evenings. In the following March they may 

 be removed into the nurfcry, and planted in rows two feet 

 and a half d:ftant, and ten, or twelve, or eighteen inches 

 aiunder. Here they may remain two years, or, in cafes 

 where they make little, progrefs, three years ; cutting after 

 the fecond year's growth fuch as are leaft thriving or crook- 

 ed, clofe to the gri^und in March. Mr. Miller recommends 



to 



