CHAP. CIV.

betui.a'ceje. BE'TULA.

1709

plates, and are much used by them, in Bostonand in other towns situated farther north, forinlaying. The tree affords excellent fuel.

The bark, like that of the European species,is, in Canada and the district of Maine, em-ployed for many purposes. It is placed inlarge pieces immediately under the shingles ofthe roof, to prevent the water from penetratingthrough it. Baskets, boxes, and portfoliosare made of it, which are sometimes em-broidered with silk of different colours. Di-vided into very thin sheets, it forms a sub-stitute for paper; and, placed between thesoles of the shoes, and in the crown of the hat(as the bark of the birch of Europe is inLapland), it is a defence against humidity.

But the most important purpose to which it isapplied, and one in which it is replaced by thebark of no other tree, is the construction ofcanoes. To procure proper pieces, the largest and smoothest trunks areselected. In the spring, two circular incisions are made several feet apart, andtwo longitudinal ones on the opposite sides of the tree ; after which, by intro-ducing a wooden wedge, the bark is easily detached. The plates are usually10 ft. or ) 2 ft. long, and 2 ft. 9 in. broad. To form the canoe, they are stitchedtogether with the fibrous roots of the white spruce, about the size of a quill,which arc deprived of their bark, split, and rendered supple by steeping inwater. The seams are coated with resin of the Balm of Gilead fir. Great useis made of these canoes by the savages, and by the French Canadians, in theirlong journeys into the interior of the country : they are very light, and areeasily transported on the shoulders from one lake to another. A canoe calcu-lated for four persons, with their baggage, only weighs from 40 lb. to 5011).; andsome of them are made to carry fifteen passengers. ( Michx. N. Amer. SyL, ii.p. 88.) A small canoe will carry 20 cwt. In the settlements of the Hudson’sBay Company, tents are made of the bark of this tree, which for that purposeis cut into pieces 12 ft. long and 4 ft. wide. These are sewed together bythreads made of the white spruce roots, already mentioned; and so rapidly isa tent put up, that a circular one of 20 ft. in diameter, and 10 ft. high, doesnot occupy more than half an hour in pitching. The utility of these “rindtents,” as they are called, is acknowledged by every traveller and hunter in theCanadas. They are used throughout the whole year; but, during the hotmonths of June, July, and August, they are found particularly comfortable.It has been proposed to introduce this bark into England, and use it for pro-tecting plants during the winter season, and for various other garden purposes.(See Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 407.) The tree was introduced into Europe,and cultivated by Archibald Duke of Argyle, in 1750. It flourishes, Michauxsays, in the vicinity of Paris, and is known there in the nurseries under thename of B. nigra; we suppose, because the bark of very young trees is ge-nerally black, and the leaves of a very dark green. In the London nurseries,it is not very common ; but there are plants of it in the arboretum at Messrs.Loddiges’s; and, in 1834, in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, there wereseveral trees upwards of 30 ft. high, after being 10 years planted. B. papyracearequires rather a better soil than the common birch, and it is best propagated byseeds, which are annually received from New York. The plant usually knownby the name of B. papyracea, in the London nurseries, is the B. riibra ofMichaux, jun., the B. lanuldsa of Michaux, sen., and our B. nigra, No. 9.This mistake has arisen from the bark of B. nigra, even in trees not above1 in. in diameter, separating from the trunk, and rolling up in very thinpaper-like laminas.

Statistics. In the environs of London, at Syon, it is 47 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. I in.,