‘usually of from two to four feet in height. 
_ troduced to Britain. 
BIRCH. 
of about 380 feet, and contributes its timber to 
some economical uses.— The tapering -leaved 
birch, Betula acuminata, grows wild on the moun- 
tains of Nepaul, but has not yet been introduced 
to Great Britain. It is a large tree, of noble 
appearance ; it usually attains a height of from 
50 to 60 feet, and is ramified almost from the 
surface of the ground; and its timber is employed 
for nearly every purpose which requires strength 
and durability in wood.—The Indian paper birch, 
Betula bhojpatira, grows wild on the mountains 
of Gurwal and Kumaon, but has not yet been in- 
troduced to Britain. It nearly resembles Betula 
papyracea, but is covered with bark of a pale cin- 
namon colour; and both it and Betula acuminata 
would be beautiful and probably useful acces- 
sions to the British sylva.—Iwo other species, 
obscure yet apparently interesting, occur in the 
same countries as Betula bhojpattra; and a curi- 
ous but obscure species, a small evergreen plant, 
called Betula antarctica, grows in the region of 
Terra del Fuego. 
The dwarf-birch, Betula nana, grows wild in 
the moist moors of Scotland, and in the moun- 
tainous regions of the northern part of the tem- 
perate zone, from Lapland eastward to Unalasch- 
ka in Asia. It is a curious, low, branching bush, 
Its 
leaves are round and serrated; its catkins are 
erect ; and its winged fruit is said to be the fa- 
vourite food of the ptarmigan. But the plant, 
though valuable to the Laplanders as fuel, is 
almost totally useless in Britain.—The long- 
leaved birch, Betula nana macrophylla, is a variety 
of the dwarf birch, growing wild in Switzerland, 
usually attaining a height of about 6 feet, and 
introduced to Great Britain in 1819.—The downy 
or pubescent birch, Betula pubescens, was intro- 
duced from Germany upwards of 30 years ago, 
and is an ornamental tree of usually about 30 
feet in height. Its branches are erect, and 
covered with very close down; and its leaves are 
ovate, heart-shaped, serrated, and also covered 
with down. The nettle-leaved birch, Betula ur- 
ticifolia, is another German species, but smaller 
than the preceding. The hairy dwarf birch, 
Bevula pumila, is an ornamental species, of about 
6 feet in height, introduced from North America 
in 1762. The shrubby or fruiting species, Betula 
fruticosa, is an ornamental shrub of 6 feet in 
height, introduced from Siberia about 28 years 
ago. The dark or sad birch, Betula tristis, is an 
ornamental small tree, of about 10 feet in height, 
growing wild in Kamstchatka, and recently in- 
The ovate birch, Betula 
ovata—tormerly regarded as an alder, under the 
name of Alnus viridis—is an ornamental shrub, 
of about 6 feet in height, introduced from Hun- 
gary in 1820. 
The several species of birch may be propagated 
from either seeds, layers, or cuttings. Seeds ought 
to be sown in beds of fine mould, and covered 
with soil to the depth of a quarter of an inch. 
BIRD-CATCHING. 
425 
The young plants ought always to be kept quite 
free from weeds; and when they attain a height 
of about 3 or 4 feet, they are usually in good 
condition for being transplanted, — Vigorous 
young plants designed to yield shoots for layers 
ought to be transplanted for the purpose, a year 
before layering, to a spot of double-dug ground, 
and placed about 3 yards asunder; and if they 
make no proper shoots within the year, they 
must be headed down to within half a foot of 
the ground, and, next summer, they will make 
vigorous shoots. The shoots and twigs are lay- 
ered in the usual manner; and one set of parent 
plants will produce new shoots, and may be used 
for layering, for a succession of years.—Cuttings, 
if set in a moist shady border about the begin- 
ning of October, may strike in considerable num- 
ber ; but they so frequently fail as to render 
propagation by the two other methods very de- 
cidedly preferable. — Pallas’ Flora Russica. — 
Michaux’s Travels in America —Gilpin’s Forest 
Scenery.—Muller’s Dictionary.— Marshall on Plant- 
ing—Sir John Sinclair's General Report of Scot- 
land.— Useful and Ornamental Planting— Papers 
of Messrs. Hawthorn and Baillie in the Gardener's 
Magazine. — Nicol’s Planter’s Kalendar.— Mills 
Husbandry. 
BIRD-CATCHING. The art of taking birds 
or wild fowl. It is performed in various ways, 
according to the season of the year, or the spe- 
cies of bird intended to be caught. 
If the flame of sulphur be held under the trees, 
night, they soon become suffocated, and fall down 
in a state of insensibility. In this manner phea- 
sants are frequently caught. ~ 
If a portion of wheat, or any other grain, be 
steeped in a mixture of wine lees and hemlock 
inebriated by eating it, and drop down upon the 
ground, or become unable to escape. 
When the ground is covered with snow, choose 
a spot within 20 or thirty yards of a window, 
concealed from the birds; and clear away the 
snow from a space about six or seven feet square. 
In the middle of this space place a wooden table 
or board; fasten to its sides several pieces of 
the nails; and under the four ends, which are 
not nailed, put four pieces of tile or slate, that 
they may not penetrate the ground, so as that 
Make a small notch in the end of the table, in 
order to put into it the end staff, which should 
other end rest upon a piece of slate or tile. Ar- 
range the whole in such a manner, that the 
board would be ready to fall towards the place 
on which birds are observed to perch during the | 
juice, and then scattered in those places where | 
birds are known to resort, they will speedily be | 
door, or any other shelter, by which you may be | 
pipe staves, about six inches long and one broad, | 
in such a manner that it may easily turn upon | 
the table may fall down upon the slightest jog. | 
be seven inches long and one broad, and let the | 
where you stand, if it were not supported by the | 
end staff; and to the middle of this staff let one | 
ee ee Se 
