1698

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

dant in the bark; and, consequently, the spray always yields more in propor-tion than the trunk. The bark is much employed for tanning leather, bothin Britain and on the Continent. The birch appears to have been first usedin England for this purpose in Evelyn’s time, as he speaks of “ Mr. Howard’snew tan, made of the tops and loppings of birch.” The bark yields a yellowishbrown dye, and, combined with alum, a brownish red. These may be con-sidered as the principal uses of the birch tree in central Europe; but thereare others to be noticed, which are peculiar to Norway, Lapland, Russia,and the Highlands of Scotland.

In Lapland and Kamtschatka, the huts are constructed with birch branchescovered with turf; and faggots of the spray with the leaves on, in cases formedof the skins of reindeer, serve for seats during the day, and beds at night.An interesting viewof some of thesehuts is given by Dr.

Clarke in his Scan-dinavia, of whichour Jig. 1552. is acopy. The bark oflarge trees, cut intolengths of 3 ft., andabout 18 in. or 2 ft.broad, serves theLaplanders as aspecies of cape, or

cloak, a hole being made it, in the centre, to admit the head. Sometimesseveral pieces are used, with the holes only at one end; and these, put overthe head, and hanging down on every side, form as complete a protectionfrom perpendicular rains or snows as if the man were slated. The same peo-ple, and also the Russians, make the bark of the smaller trees into boots andshoes; the legs of the boots being taken from trees about the same thicknessas the human legs, and, consequently, having no seam. The bark is also madeinto baskets, boxes, mats, and cordage for harnessing horses and reindeer,and the inner bark into thread; while all the fragments are carefully preservedfor lighting fires, or twisting into candles. Reindeer skins are tanned bysteeping them in a decoction of birch spray, mixed with salt; and woollenstuffs, being boiled in the same decoction, without the salt, are dyed yellowor yellowish brown, according to the length of time which the process is con-tinued. The Finlanders use the dried leaves as tea. The bark is also exten-sively used, in Sweden and Norway, in roofing houses. The rafters are firstcovered with boards, on which plates of birch bark are laid in the same wayas slates are in England; and the whole is covered with turf and earth, to thedepth of 1 ft. or more, to exclude the heat in summer, and the cold in winter.The earth over the bark is sometimes cultivated ; though it is most commonlykept under grass. Dr. Clarke mentions that, “ on some of the roofs of theNorwegian cottages, after the hay was taken, he found lambs pasturing; andon one house he saw an excellent crop of turnips.” (See Encyc. ofAgri., ed.2., p. 111.) In Kamtschatka, the inner bark is dried and ground, like that ofthe Scotch pine, in order to mix it with oatmeal, in times of scarcity. It isalso said to be eaten in small pieces along with the roe of fish. The sap ofthe birch is made into beer, wine, and vinegar; and a sugar is extracted, anda spirit distilled, from it: 240 bottles of sap give 6 lb. of syrup, which is usedin Russia in that state as sugar, without being crystallised. “ During the siegeof Hamburg by the Russians, in 1814, almost all the birch trees in the neigh-bourhood were destroyed by the Boshkirs, and other barbarian soldiers in theRussian service, by being tapped for their sap.” ( Penny Cyclo., art. Betula,vol. iv. p. 348.) The beer is produced by fermenting the sap with yeast,hot water, and hops, in the usual manner. The sugar is procured by boilingand evaporation; and the wine is made as follows : —

Birch Wine. The sap is first obtained by boring a hole, 1 in. or 2 in. deep, in each tree, near the

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