PARK AND CEMETERY. 
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THE BIRCHES. 
In the decorative planting of public or private 
ground.-^, the different birches, native and foreign, 
are exceedingly useful. In graceful beauty, deli- 
cate spray of the branches, cleanly habits, they are 
hardly excelled by any other trees. With about 
two exceptions most of them respond readily to 
cultivation. 
The European birch in its numerous forms has 
been and is well known in cultivation. The py- 
ramidal, cut-leaved, purple leaved. Young’s weep 
ing, and other forms of it have been largely planted, 
and when they are properly individualized and 
placed they are respectively pretty. During the 
past few years, though, just when these varieties 
are developing into arborescent beauty in numerous 
localities throughout the country, particularly the 
cut leaved form, they turn sick and die. A species 
of borer gets in its deadly work inside the bark and 
death is only a matter of a short time, and so far 
as we are aware there is no remedy e.xcept cutting 
the trees down. Every recurring season we receive 
questions from parties inquiring what is the matter 
with their dying birches, and upon examination we 
find the borer to be at work, and are always sorry 
to tell them there is no known remedy. 
So far as we have observed here, the pyramidal 
or fastigiate variety is much less attacked by this 
borer than the other varieties of the European birch. 
How widely this experience occurs we do not know. 
But even if a majority of them die in their youth, 
the enjoyment of their temporary beauty is a desi- 
deratum. 
The canoe birch, Betula papyrifera, a native of 
the North American forests, in a general way re- 
sembles the European birch, when fully developed. 
The bark has a chalky white color and easily de- 
taches in large sections. The leaves are ovate, 
dark green, and large, and it does in its best con- 
dition get to be a tree 8o feet in height. It is 
perfectly hardy, easily transplanted, does well in 
poor soil, and is very ornamental. 
The so called American white birch Betula 
populifolia, native from Delaware northwards, 
found growing usually in the poorest kind of soil, 
and has a habit of often springing up on burnt 
lands where it is. indigenous, is a much more slender 
tree than the former and seldom grows over forty 
five feet in height. The leaves are deltoid, not 
large, and have a tremulous habit. The bark is 
smooth and white. It is useful in large grounds 
and parks, but it is not long lived. 
The red birch, Betula nigra, is often found 
growing native along the banks of streams from 
Massachusetts southwards, and is found growing 
further southwards than any other birch. It has a 
somewhat slender habit and grows occasionally 
from sixty to seventy feet in height, with long 
drooping arched branches that gives it an exceed- 
ingly graceful appearance. We have a particular 
admiration for this tree. The leaves are egg shaped 
and medium sized amongst birches. The bark is 
reddish brown and hangs to the stem of the tree in 
loose clusters throughout the winter months, and 
renders the tree quite attractive during winter. It 
is one of the easiest of trees to transplant. In fact, 
cuT-i,KAVED WEEPING BIRCH. Betula Alba Pendula. 
it is, in our experience a remarkable thing to sec 
it fail in any situation. 
The yellow birch, Betula lutea, is, as all lumber 
men know, a tree of great economical value and is 
found growing from the Allegheny mountains far 
northwards, and frequently attains a height of one 
hundred feet. It grows to a height of eighty and 
ninety feet in damp soil in West New York. It is 
called the yellow birch on account of the gray 
yellowish tinge of the bark. The leaves arc usually 
about four inches long and two inches wide, and 
when they first unfold are somewhat downy at first 
and turn quite smooth towards the end of summer. 
The yellow birch should always be planted in damp 
