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RECREATION 



SOME USEFUL WOODS. 



BY CHAS. A. BRAMBLE. 

 WHITE BIRCH. 



This is by all odds the most valuable tree 

 in the Northern forest, although its bark is 

 the part that renders it of value. With it 

 the woodsman makes his bark canoe, his 

 summer lean-to, and the sheathing of his win- 

 ter camp. It is the material out of which the 

 dishes and utensils of the Indian hunter are 

 always made. Cups, dishes, plates and such 

 things may be made in a few moments out of 

 birch bark, it being only necessary to warm 

 the bark slightly in order to render it pliable. 

 The horn through which the moose is called 

 is simply a roll of birch bark, as is the torch 

 by the light of which the salmon and other 

 fish are speared by the Indian. Its wood is 

 fairly good for fuel, and makes a good sum- 

 mer fire, or one by which to cook, but it has 

 neither the lasting nor heating power of some 

 other woods. 



Green white birch logs burn poorly after 

 the bark has flared away, and for this reason 

 are useful as hand junks, fore sticks and back 

 logs. 



YELLOW BIRCH. 



The yellow and grey birch are good timber 

 trees, though far inferior to the white birch 

 for all-round utility. Birch makes an ad- 

 mirable runner for a sled, and good snow 

 shoe frames are made of yellow birch, not- 

 withstanding the fact that the Micmac and 

 other Eastern tribes prefer the white ash. 

 The natural crooks that are often found in 

 the young grey and yellow birches just above 

 the ground, adapt them for use as sleigh run- 

 ners after a little flattening off with an axe. 

 The grey birch is the tougher wood of the 

 two, being generally found on cold, poor land, 

 being of slower growth than the yellow birch, 

 and hence the harder, as the slower the 

 growth the closer the rings, and the harder 

 the wood. 



WHITE CEDAR. 



Fortunately this wood is very widely dis- 

 tributed in the Eastern States, and to the 

 Westward as far as the Rocky mountains, 

 and almost up to the Barren lands, for it is 

 an invaluable wood, and one that the woods- 

 wanderer could ill dispense with. When of 

 normal growth, the grain is straight, splits 

 easily and the wood is most durable. These 

 qualities render the white cedar invaluable 

 for the making of shakes, splits and rough 

 boards for camping use. No wood has a 

 longer life as a fence rail than the cedar. Its 

 lightness, especially when dried, makes it the 

 best wood for rafting purposes, as its specific 

 gravity is less than that of any other common 

 North American forest tree. 



It makes a fragrant fire, and the odor of 

 smoldering cedar bark is always associated 

 in one's mind with the camp, and is very 

 sweet in consequence, It is most penetrating, 



and I have known the odor to be distinctly 

 perceptible in personal belongings, even such 

 things as watches and penknives, months 

 after the owner had returned to civilization. 

 It does not make a safe fire to leave unguard- 

 ed, however, as the crackling cedar is an- 

 other word for the sparking cedar. 



TAMARACK. 



The Tamarack, or Hacmatac, is the North 

 American larch. In parts of the northwest 

 it is considered the best fuel obtainable and 

 it fetches several dollars a cord more than 

 any other wood. It is better, however, for 

 use in a closed stove than in an open fire, on 

 account of its sparking powers. The root 

 of this tree makes excellent knees for boats. 

 It is a heavy wood and extremely durable. 



SPRUCE. 



There are two kinds of spruce common to 

 the eastern forests, the black spruce and the 

 white spruce. The latter is found farther 

 north than the former, and when found in the 

 southern part of the range, generally grows 

 in wet, poor soil. It is a finer tree than the 

 black spruce, but being much less abundant is 

 not so valuable as a lumber tree. Small black 

 spruce make the best setting poles for can- 

 oes, and are much used by the lumbermen as 

 levers in rolling logs or any other heavy 

 weights, as they are wonderfully tough, and 

 even when strained to a breaking point, give 

 warning before they break. The bark of the 

 spruce is used for roofing and to make lean- 

 to shelters, and in regions where birch bark 

 of sufficient size is not obtainable, the In- 

 dians make their canoes of spruce bark. 

 Spruce bark craft of this kind may be made 

 in a few hours by men handy with the axe 

 and well up in woodcraft. The roots of the 

 tree are used to sew the bark together and 

 the gum that exudes from the knots to pitch 

 it with, so that this one tree provides all the 

 various materials necessary in making a rough- 

 and-ready canoe. Spruce is used largely for 

 fuel ; it sparks freely and burns rapidly, but 

 it is not a first-class wood. 



WHITE ASH. 



The white or ground ash, especially when 

 of second growth and grown in the open, is 

 an admirable wood for snowshoe frames, ribs 

 of canoes, hoops and axe-handles, though for 

 the latter purpose it is distinctly inferior to 

 either rock maple or hornbeam. 



HORNBEAM. 



Unfortunately the hornbeam, or ironwood, 

 is found in few places in the North woods. It 

 grows rarely to any great size, but makes the 

 best axe-handle of any wood with the excep- 

 tion of hickory, which is not found farther 

 north than the extreme southwestern part of 

 Ontario, in Canada. Quartered and seasoned 

 for two years, at least, it makes a capital 

 fishing rod, provided one does not object to 

 its great weight. Strong, elastic, and dur- 



