_THE USEFUL BIRCH_.
"Oh, Miss Harson!" called out Clara, in great excitement, as she caught
up with her governess on a run; "hasn't Edie poisoned herself? She has
been eating this twig."
Edith, of course, at once began to cry.
"You are not poisoned, dear," said Miss Harson, very quickly, after
trying the twig herself; "for this is birch-wood, and it cannot possibly
hurt you. But remember, Edie, that this must not happen again; _never_
put anything to your mouth unless you know it to be harmless. The birds
and squirrels and other animals that are obliged to pick up their own
living as soon as they are able to use their limbs have the faculty
given them of knowing what is good for them to eat, but little girls are
not intended to live in the woods, and they cannot tell whether or not
the things they find there are fit to eat."
"I took only a little bit," sobbed Edith; "Clara snatched it away as
soon as it tasted good."
Malcolm laughingly tossed his little sister into a sort of evergreen
cradle where the branches grew low--for they were enjoying an afternoon
in the woods--and held her there securely, while their governess
replied,
"'A little bit' is too much of a thing that might be harmful. You must
remember to 'touch not, taste not, handle not,' until you have asked
permission. But I am going to let you all chew as many birch-shoots as
you want, and I too shall chew some; for when I was a little girl, I
used to think they were 'puffickly d'licious.'"
The children were much amazed to think that Miss Harson had ever talked
like Edith--indeed, the two older ones could scarcely believe that they
once did so themselves; but all soon had their hands full of
birch-twigs, and they began gnawing like so many squirrels. All approved
of the "birchskin," as Edith called it, and Malcolm declared that "it
would be grand fun to live in the woods all the time."
"Couldn't we have a tent, Miss Harson," asked Clara, "and try it?"
"I have no doubt," was the reply, "that your indulgent papa would have a
tent put up here for you if he thought it would make you happier, but I
have my doubts as to whether it would do so. In the first place, I
should object very much to living in the tent with you, and how could
you possibly live there alone?"
Clara and Edith were quite sure that they could not get along without
their friend and governess, but Malcolm thought he would like to try
being a hermit or an Indian, he was not quite ready to say which.
"While you are deciding," said Miss Harson, with a smile, "it may be as
well for us to go on as usual; but I think that a little tent could be
put up here somewhere, which we might enjoy for an hour or so on
pleasant days. I will see about it."
The little girls were delighted, and Malcolm finally condescended to be
pleased with the idea.
"This is a very young birch," continued their governess, "and you see
how slender and graceful it is; also that the bark, or 'skin,' is very
dark. For this reason it is called the black, or cherry, birch, and also
because the tree is very much like the black cherry. It is also called
sweet birch and mahogany birch; the _sweet_ part you can probably
understand, and it gets its other name from the color of the wood, which
often resembles mahogany and at one time was much used for furniture.
There are larger trees of the same kind all around us, and I should like
to know if anything else has been noticed besides the twigs of this
little one."
"_I_ see something," replied Malcolm: "there are flowers--purple and
yellow."
"And what is the particular name for these tree-blossoms?" asked Miss
Harson.
"Isn't it _catkins_?" inquired Clara, timidly.
"Yes, catkins, or aments. They hang, as you see, like long tassels of
purple and gold, and are as fragrant as the bark. Bryant's line,
"'The fragrant birch above him hung her tassels in the sky,'
"was written of this same black birch. Some of these trees are sixty or
seventy feet high, and all are very graceful, this species being
considered the most beautiful of the numerous birch family. The leaves,
which are just coming out, are two or three inches long and about half
as wide; they taper to a point and have serrate, or sawlike, edges. The
wood is firm and durable, and is much used for cattle-yokes as well as
for bedsteads and chairs. The large trees yield a great quantity of
sweetish sap, which makes a pleasant drink. The trees are tapped just as
the sugar-maples are, and in some parts of the country gathering this
sap, which is sometimes used to make vinegar, is quite an
important event."
"Oh! oh! _oh_!" screamed Edith, and began to run.
"Oh! oh! oh!" echoed Clara; and Malcolm declared that she was just like
"Jill," who "came tumbling after."
"What is the matter, children?" asked their governess, in dismay; but
she stood perfectly still.
"Only a poor little garter-snake," said Malcolm, "putting his head out
to see if it's warm enough for him yet. But he has gone back into his
hole frightened to death at such dreadful noises. Hello! what's the
matter with Edie now?"
The little sister had fallen, tripped up by some rough roots, and,
expecting the poor startled garter-snake to come and make a meal off
her, she was calling loudly for help.
Miss Harson had her in her arms in a moment, and it was soon found that
one foot had quite a bad bruise.
"If only you had not run away!" said her governess. "He was such an
innocent little snake to make all this fuss about, and very pretty too,
if you had stopped to look at him."
"Are snakes ever pretty?" asked Edith, in great surprise.
"Certainly they are, dear, and this one had lovely stripes. I wish you
could have seen him."
The little girl began to wish so too, it was so funny to think of a
snake being pretty, and she felt quite ashamed that she had scampered
away in such a silly fashion.
"What a goose I was!" said Clara, doing her thinking aloud. "But I
thought it must be something dreadful, when Edie screamed so."
"How much better it would have been to have found out before you
screamed!" replied Miss Harson.--"But come, Edith; see what a nice cane
Malcolm has just cut to help your lame foot with. He is offering you his
arm, too, on the other side, and between the two I think you will get
along finely."
Edith thought the same thing, and enjoyed being helped home in this
fashion. Her foot was quite painful, though, and considerably swollen;
and Clara bathed it with arnica when the little girl had been
comfortably established on the schoolroom sofa.
"Perhaps," said Miss Harson, "our little invalid will not care to hear
about trees this evening?"
But the little invalid did care, and it was decided to take a further
ramble among the birches.
"I want to hear about birch-bark," said Malcolm--"not the kind we've
been eating, but the kind that canoes and things are made of."
[Illustration: THE CUT-LEAVED WHITE BIRCH.]
"You have already heard about the black birch," replied his governess,
"and, besides this, we have the white, or gray, birch, the bark of which
is white, chalky and dotted with black; the red birch, with bark of a
reddish or chocolate color; the yellow birch, bark yellowish, with a
silvery lustre; and the canoe birch, which has a white bark with a
pearly lustre. There is also a dwarf, or shrub, birch. The list, you
see, is quite a long one."
"What kind grow in _our_ woods?" asked Clara.
"You certainly know of one kind," was the reply--"the black, or sweet,
birch, which we have all tried and like so well. Besides this, there is
the white, or little gray, birch, which is seldom over twenty-five or
thirty feet high. It is, however, a graceful and beautiful object,
enjoying to an eminent decree the lightness and airiness of the birch
family, and spreading out its glistening leaves on the ends of a very
slender and often pensile spray with an indescribable softness. An
English poet has called this tree the
"'most beautiful
Of forest-trees, the lady of the woods.'"
The children laughed at the idea of calling a tree a _lady_, it seemed
so comical; but Miss Harson said that she thought this was a very good
description of a slender, graceful tree.
[Illustration: WHITE-BIRCH LEAF.]
"Four or five inches," she continued, "will span its waist, or trunk,
and this seems a very good reason for calling it _little_. Another name
for this tree is poplar birch, because the triangular-shaped leaves,
which taper to a very long, slender point, have a habit of trembling
like those of the poplars. The branches are of a dark chocolate color
which contrasts very prettily with the grayish-white trunk, and their
extreme slenderness causes them to droop somewhat like those of the
willow. The white birch will spring up in the poorest kind of soil, and
it is found in the highest latitude in which any tree can live. Its leaf
is 'deltoid' in shape and indented at the edge. The bark of this species
is said to be more durable than any other vegetable substance, and a
piece of birch-wood was once found changed into stone, while the outer
bark, white and shining, remained in its natural state,"
"I don't see how it could," said Malcolm. "What kept it from turning
into stone too?"
"Its peculiar nature," was the reply, "which is a thing that we cannot
explain, and we shall have to take the story just as it is. We certainly
know that the wood has been proved to be very strong, and it is much
used for timber."
"Is the red birch really red, Miss Harson?" asked Clara, who thought
that this promised to be the prettiest member of the family.
"The bark has a reddish tinge, and it is so loose and ragged-looking
that it has been said to roll up its bark in coarse ringlets, which are
whitish with a stain of crimson. The red birch, which is more rare than
any of the other kinds, is a much larger tree than the white birch, but,
like all its relations, it is very graceful. The wood is white and hard
and makes very good fuel, while the twigs are made into brooms for
sweeping streets and courtyards."
"But there isn't very much red about it, after all," said Malcolm.
"It wasn't red," murmured Edith; "it was green;" and the next moment
"the baby" was fast asleep, but Miss Harson was afraid that she had
taken the snake with her to the land of Nod, so restless was her sleep.
"I hope the yellow birch is yellow," said Clara again.
"We will see what is said of its color," replied her governess, "and
here it is: 'Distinguished by its yellowish bark, of a soft silken
texture and silvery or pearly lustre,' It is a large tree, and has been
named _excelsa_--'lofty'--because of its height. The slender, flowing
branches are very graceful, and the tree is often as symmetrical as a
fine elm, but droops less. The roots of the yellow birch seem to enjoy
getting above the ground and twisting themselves in a very fantastic
manner, and, taken altogether, it is a strikingly handsome and
ornamental tree. The wood was at one time much liked for fuel, and many
of the logs were of immense size."
"Now," said Malcolm, gleefully, "the canoe birch has _got_ to come next,
because there isn't anything else to come."
"That is an excellent reason," replied Miss Harson, "and the canoe birch
it shall be. There is more to be said of it than of any of the others,
and it also grows in greater quantities. Thick woods of it are found in
Maine and New Hampshire--for it loves a cold climate--and in other
Northern portions of the country. The tall trunks of the trees resemble
pillars of polished marble supporting a canopy of bright-green foliage.
The leaves are something of a heart-shape, and their vivid summer green
turns to golden tints in autumn. The bark of the canoe birch is almost
snowy white on the outside, and very prettily marked with fine brown
stripes two or three inches long, which go around the trunk. This bark
is very smooth and soft, and it is easily separated into very thin
sheets. For this reason the tree is often called the paper birch, and
the smooth, thin layers of bark make very good writing-paper when none
other can be had."
"Oh, Miss Harson!" exclaimed Clara; "did you ever see any that was
written on?"
"Yes," was the reply; "I once wrote a letter on some myself."
"Did you _really_?" cried two eager voices. "How _could_ you? Oh, do
tell us about it!"
"I was making a visit at a village in Maine," said their governess,
"where the beautiful trees are to be seen in all their perfection, and I
thought it would be appropriate to write a letter from there on birch
bark. So I split my bark very thin and got a respectable sheet of it
ready; then I cut another piece, to form an envelope, and gummed it
together. I had quite a struggle to write on it decently with a steel
pen, because the pen would go through the paper; but I persevered, and
finally I accomplished my letter. It seemed odd to put a postage-stamp
on birch bark, and I smiled to think how surprised the home-people
would be to get such a letter. They _were_ surprised, and they told me
afterward that the postman laughed when he delivered it."
The children thought this very interesting, and they wished that there
were canoe-birch trees growing at Elmridge, that they might be enabled
to try the experiment for themselves.
"Now," continued Miss Harson, "I am going to read you an account of
canoe-making, and of some other uses to which the bark is put:
"'In Canada and in the district of Maine the country-people place large
pieces of the bark immediately below the shingles of the roof, to form a
more impenetrable covering for their houses. Baskets, boxes and
portfolios are made of it, which are sometimes embroidered with silk of
different colors. Divided into very thin sheets, it forms a substitute
for paper, and placed between the soles of the shoes and in the crown of
the hat it is a defence against dampness. But the most important purpose
to which it is applied, and one in which it is replaced by the bark of
no other tree, is in the construction of canoes. To procure proper
pieces, the largest and smoothest trunks are selected. In the spring two
circular incisions are made, several feet apart, and two longitudinal
ones on opposite sides of the tree; after which, by introducing a wooden
wedge, the bark is easily detached. These plates are usually ten or
twelve feet long and two feet nine inches broad. To form the canoe, they
are stitched together with fibrous roots of the white spruce about the
size of a quill, which are deprived of the bark, split and suppled in
water. The seams are coated with resin of the balm of Gilead.
"'Great use is made of these canoes by the savages and by the French
Canadians in their long journeys into the interior of the country; they
are very light, and are easily transported on the shoulders from one
lake or river to another, which is called the _portage_. A canoe
calculated for four persons, with their baggage, weighs from forty to
fifty pounds; some of them are made to carry fifteen passengers.'
"And now let me show you a picture of the Kentucky pioneer in a
birch-bark canoe."
"Why, Miss Harson, the Indians are trying to kill him!" exclaimed
Malcolm.
"Yes," she replied; "when you read the history of the United States, you
will find that not only Daniel Boone, but the most of the early settlers
of these Western lands, had trouble with the Indians. Nor is this
strange. These pioneers were often rough men, and were looked upon by
the natives as invaders of their country and treated as enemies. But to
come back to the uses of the bark of the birch:
"'In the settlements of the Hudson Bay Company tents are made of the
bark of this tree, which for that purpose is cut into pieces twelve feet
long and four feet wide. These are sewed together by threads made of the
white-spruce roots; and so rapidly is a tent put up that a circular one
twenty feet in diameter and ten feet high does not occupy more than half
an hour in pitching. Every traveler and hunter in Canada enjoys these
"rind-tents," as they are called, which are used only during the hot
summer months, when they are found particularly comfortable.'"
[Illustration: IN THE BIRCH-BARK CANOE]
"Well, that's the funniest thing yet!" exclaimed Malcolm. "'Rind-tents'!
I wish I could see one. Did they have any in Maine where you were,
Miss Harson?"
"No," was the reply, "I did not even hear of such a thing there, and to
see it you would probably have to go far to the north. The English
birch, which is found also in many parts of Europe, is put to a great
many uses; the leaves produce a yellow dye, and the wood, when mixed
with copperas, will color red, black and brown. An old birch tree that
is supposed to be giving an account of itself says,
"'How many are the uses of my bark! Thrifty men who sit beside the
blazing hearth when my branches throw up a clear bright flame, and
follow the example of their fathers in making their own shoes and those
of their families, tan the hides with my bark. Kamschadales construct
from it both hats and vessels for holding milk, and the Swedish
fisherman his shoes. The Norwegian covers with it his low-roofed hut
and spreads upon the surface layers of moss at least three or four
inches thick, and, having twisted long strips together, he obtains
excellent torches with which to cheer the darkness of his long nights.
Fishermen, in like manner, make great use of them in alluring their
finny prey. For this purpose they fit a portion of blazing birch in a
cleft stick and spear the fish when attracted by its flickering light.'"
The children exclaimed at this queer way of fishing, but Malcolm was
very much taken with the idea of doing it by night with blazing torches,
and he thought that he would like to be a Norwegian fisherman even
better than a hermit or an Indian.
"The old tree goes on to say," continued Miss Harson, "that 'Finland
mothers form of the dried leaves soft, elastic beds for their children,
and from me is prepared the _mona_, their sole medicine in all diseases.
My buds in spring exhale a delicious fragrance after showers, and the
bark, when burnt, seems to purify the air in confined dwellings.'
"In Lapland the twigs of the birch, covered with reindeer-skins, are
used for beds, but they cannot be so comfortable, I should think, as the
leaves. The fragrant wood of the tree makes the fires which have to be
kept up inside the huts even in summer to drive away the mosquitoes, and
the people of those Northern regions would find it hard to get along
without the useful birch."
"I like to hear about it," said Clara. "Can you tell us something more
that is done with it, Miss Harson?"
"There is just one thing more," replied her governess, with a smile,
"which I will read out of an old book; and I desire you all to pay
particular attention to it."
Little Edith was wide awake again by this time, and her great blue eyes
looked as if she were ready to devour every word.
"Birch rods," continued Miss Harson, "are quite different from birch
_twigs_, and the uses to which they were put were not altogether
agreeable to the boys who ran away from school or did not get their
lessons. 'My branches,' says the birch, 'gently waving in the wind,
awakened in those days no feelings of dread with truant urchins--for
_all_ might be truants then, if so it pleased them--but at length a
scribe arose who thus wrote concerning my ductile twigs: "The civil uses
whereunto the birch serveth are many, as for the punishment of children
both at home and abroad; for it hath an admirable influence upon them to
quiet them when they wax unruly, and therefore some call the tree
_make-peace_"'" Malcolm and Clara both laughed, and asked their young
governess when the birch rods were coming; but Edith did not feel quite
so easy, and, with her bruised foot and all, it took a great deal of
petting that night to get her comfortably to bed.