Beech is a beautiful tree with light gray bark, handsome foliage and
valuable hard wood.
The seed is buckwheat-shaped, small and sweet. One of our most
handsome shade trees, and although only one species is native to the
United States, nurserymen have developed special varieties known as
weeping beech and purple or copper beech. The European beech is also
frequently planted on lawns and in parks. Its foliage is darker and
has indentations so shallow that the leaf apparently has only a wavy
outline.
Wood is hard, tough, fine-grained and takes a high polish. Used for the
stocks of planes, handles, farming implements, and for some kinds of
furniture.
The beech tree is supposed to be impervious to lightning, and recent
experiments show that it offers considerable resistance to an electric
current.
_Birch._--The indentations of the beech are shallow and concave, while
the birch leaf is known as double serrate, or double toothed, the
teeth being themselves toothed. Five varieties are known in the Eastern
states, black, red, yellow, white, and gray.
_Black Birch, Sweet Birch._--The tree familiar to boys because of
its aromatic bark, which contains salicylic acid used in treating
cases of rheumatism. A large forest tree with handsome foliage, a
very fine-winged seed and valuable wood. Heavy, hard, fine-grained,
and takes a high polish. Used for wheel hubs, and the manufacture of
furniture.
_Red Birch._--Found in swamps and along rivers, especially in the
South. Leaves smaller than black birch and wood much lighter in weight,
but close-grained and strong. Used for furniture and wooden ware.
_Yellow Birch._--A northern tree, growing a hundred feet high in
northern New York and Canada. Leaves similar to black birch, but its
bark is very different. The bark of the black birch is very dark, while
that of yellow birch is of a silvery, yellowish gray, characteristic
birch bark.
Wood heavy, hard, and similar to black birch. Used for the same general
purposes.
_White Birch, Canoe Birch, or Paper Birch._--Noted for its remarkable
bark. White on the young trees, darker on old ones. Comes off in
several distinct paper-like layers. Well known to ancient writers and
used by them for paper. It contains a resinous oil which accounts for
its water-resisting qualities so well known in the Indian birch-bark
canoe. The inner bark contains starch and in the extreme north it
is sometimes mixed with other foods. The sap may be used for making
sugar. Wood is light brown and light weight but hard, strong, and
close-grained. Used for shoe-lasts, fuel, and spools.
_Gray Birch, Aspen-Leaved Birch._--Sometimes called white birch. The
bark is white but patched with black and does not come off in layers as
readily nor separate so easily from the wood as white birch.
A smaller tree with foliage that moves as freely in the wind as the
aspen.
Leaf form very peculiar; a long thin stem, broad flat base, and long
tapering outline, double serrate. A persistent little tree, very hardy
and difficult to kill.
Wood is light and soft, close-grained but weak. Used for pulp, fuel,
spools, and hoops.
_Hop Hornbeam, Ironwood._--A little tree with delicate birch-like
foliage and wood of great hardness. The name hop is derived from the
fruit cluster bearing the seeds, which resembles the hop. The bark
is in remarkable contrast to the foliage, being deeply furrowed and
smooth, as if a smooth skin were drawn over powerful muscles.
The wood weighs over fifty pounds to the cubic foot, is tough,
close-grained, hard and will take a high polish. Used for mallets, tool
handles, and levers.
_Hornbeam or Blue Birch._--A small tree with dark gray or bluish bark.
Leaves similar to ironwood, but narrower. Wood weighs forty-five pounds
to the cubic foot, hard and strong, similar to ironwood and used for
the same purposes.
_Elm, White or American._--The well-known shade tree of the North. Leaf
is lop-sided, one side being considerably larger than the other, double
serrate. Aside from being a beautiful shade tree, the wood is very
valuable in several trades, being heavy, hard, strong, and tough. It
does not split easily and is valued for such critical places as wheel
hubs and saddles. Used in cooperage, and supply nearly exhausted.
_Red Elm, Slippery Elm._--Red from the dark brown colour of its wood
and slippery from the character of the inner bark. The slippery elm of
commerce is made from this, which sufficiently explains its character.
Leaves are larger, coarser, and rougher than white elm and wood is
heavy, hard, close-grained and tough. Used for ties, fence posts, and
agricultural implements.
_Rock Elm, Cork Elm._--Rock from the nature of the soil it is
particularly fond of--rocky cliffs or hills--cork from the corky ridges
which appear on the branches. A valuable timber tree but found in
limited quantities. The wood is unlike the red and white elms in that
it will take a high polish. Hard and tough, close-grained but easily
worked. Used for cabinet work, farming implements, ties, and to some
extent for bridge timbers.
_Basswood, Linden._--A large timber tree of the Northern states and
Canada. Its flowers are very sweet and attract the bees to such an
extent that it is sometimes called the "bee tree." It has several
varieties, as the small-leaved linden of the South, the silver linden,
weeping silver linden, etc.
Leaves are heart-shaped, serrate, and lop-sided. A valuable shade tree.
Wood is soft, weak, even-grained, does not split easily. The favourite
wood for pyrography because of its white colour, freedom from pitch,
etc. Used for boxes of wagons, wooden ware, and to some extent for
furniture making.
_Holly._--A broad-leaved evergreen. Leaves and berries used as
Christmas decorations. A southern tree found as far north as Long
Island. Wood very light in colour, but hard and close-grained. Takes a
high polish. Used in cabinet work and engraving.
_Cherry, Wild or Black._--The cabinet wood in common use is from this
tree, although several varieties are known to botanists. The wild
cherry of the roadside in the East, but a large forest tree west of the
Mississippi, especially from Kansas to Texas. Wood a beautiful reddish
brown, close-grained, strong, and will take a high polish. Used in
cabinet work, interior of houses, and for car finish.
_Tulip, White Wood, Yellow Poplar._--The last name is incorrect, as the
tree is not a poplar. White wood is also inaccurate, as the only part
of the wood that is white is the sap wood. A member of the magnolia
family found throughout the East but rare in New England. Has a
peculiar leaf with four points, smooth, shiny, and distinctive. Flowers
the size and colour of a yellow or orange-coloured tulip. Wood greenish
yellow, light, soft, brittle, free from knots, and inclined to warp
more than white pine, for which it is now being substituted. Used for
many purposes, including cabinet work, interior finish, panels, etc.
_Sweet Gum, Red Gum, Liquid Amber._--Like the tulip, a large, handsome
tree found throughout the East. Leaves have five fingers resembling a
starfish, seeds produced in seed balls about an inch in diameter. The
seed itself is very small.
Wood a beautiful reddish brown with handsome grain, heavy but soft,
brittle, weak, warps and winds badly.
Used to some extent in interior finish and in wood turning.
_Chestnut._--The well-known tree of the East. Wood light and
open-grained, soft, but very durable in contact with the soil, hence
its use for ties and fence posts. Has beautiful grain and takes a good
polish. Used for furniture.
A fungous disease is rapidly destroying this tree in the East.
_Sycamore, Buttonball, Buttonwood._--Sycamore is incorrect. This is the
American plane, a near relative of the European plane tree. Buttonball
is derived from the shape of the seed pods, which are round, an inch or
more in diameter, and stay on the tree during the winter.
This is the tree which sheds part of its bark each year, giving the
trunk a mottled appearance.
Wood is hard and heavy, has an interesting grain and takes a good
polish. Used for interior finish of houses.
_Poplar._--A large family of trees of which nine members are recognized
in North America. All have light and soft woods of little value except
for making boxes, packing cases and wood pulp.
Their value lies in hardiness, quick growth and ability to cover burned
areas so as to give a forest cover in localities where other trees
will not grow. The balsam poplar, or balm of Gilead, formerly planted
extensively as a shade tree, reaches well up into Alaska, and in the
Yukon territory reaches a height of a hundred feet. Immense forests
cover hundreds of square miles. As a shade tree it possesses one or two
good qualities, quick growth and an indifference to the smoke and grime
of cities. It is otherwise not very desirable.
_Dogwood._--A small tree with brilliant flowers in the spring
and bright red berries in the fall. Wood heavy, hard, tough, and
close-grained. Used for hubs of wheels, tool handles, and mallets.