228. _The BIRCH_ (Betula alba) _is a forest-tree, easily known by the
smooth appearance and silvery colour of its bark, by its leaves being
somewhat triangular, but acute, their smallness in comparison with those
of other timber trees, and by the small branches being slender and
flexible._
Although the birch is by no means considered a valuable timber tree, yet
its _wood_ is used for numerous purposes. Being of white colour, and firm
and tough in texture, it is variously employed by hoop-benders and
wheel-wrights. Turners use it for trenchers, bowls, ladles, and other
wooden ware. Ox yokes, small screws, women's shoe-heels, pattens, and, in
France, wooden shoes are made of it. The North American Indians use the
wood of the birch-tree for canoes, boxes, buckets, baskets, kettles, and
dishes, curiously joining it together with threads made of roots of the
cedar-tree. Birch-trees are not unfrequently planted with hazels, for the
purpose of the wood being converted into charcoal for forges. This charcoal
is much esteemed; and the soot which is formed on burning the wood
constitutes a good black substance for printers' ink.
Nearly all the other parts of the birch-tree are applicable to useful
purposes. The inhabitants of Sweden employ the _bark_ in the tanning of
leather; and, after burning it to a certain degree, they also use it as a
cement for broken china and earthen ware. The navigators of the river Volga
construct of it portable boats, cradles, &c. It is serviceable in dyeing a
yellow colour. In Norway it is dried, ground, mixed with meal, and boiled
with other food for swine. Houses or huts, in many parts of the north of
Europe, are covered with the outward and thicker part of the bark, instead
of slates, or tiles. It is spun into a coarse kind of rope, woven into
shoes and hats; and, in Kamschatka, even made into drinking cups. The
Laplanders fasten together large pieces of it as outer garments to keep off
the rain. Abounding with much resinous matter, slices of the bark are
sometimes twisted together to make torches. During a scarcity of corn the
bark of the birch-tree has, in several instances, been ground with bread
corn, and successfully used as food by mankind.
In most parts of England the _twigs_ of this tree are made into besoms.
They are also made into the tops of fishing rods; and, when smeared with
bird-lime (56), are used by bird-catchers. The Norwegians frequently employ
them as fodder for their horses. The _leaves_ afford a yellow dye.
A wholesome wine is made from the _sap_ or juice of the birch-tree. The
juice is obtained by boring holes in the trunks of the trees, about the
beginning of March, before the leaves appear. Into each of these holes a
piece of elder stick, hollowed through the middle, by clearing out the
pith, is placed. This conducts the juice, as it flows from the wound, into
a vessel put to receive it. If a tree be large, it may be tapped in four or
five places at once; and, from several trees, many gallons of juice may be
obtained in a day. The juice thus procured is to be boiled with sugar, in
the proportion of four pounds to a gallon, and treated in the same manner
as other made wines. A good spirit might no doubt be obtained from the
juice of the birch-tree by distillation.
229. _The ALDER, or OWLER_ (Betula alnus, Fig. 63), _is a tree which
grows in wet situations, and is distinguished by its flower-stalks being
branched, and its leaves being roundish, waved, serrated, and downy at
the branching of the veins beneath._
There are few means of better employing swampy and morassy grounds than by
planting them with alders; for although the growth of these trees is not
rapid, the uses to which they are applicable are such as amply to repay the
loss of time requisite before they come to perfection.
The _wood_ of the alder, which is in great demand for machinery, is
frequently wrought into cogs for mill-wheels, and is peculiarly adapted for
all kinds of work which are to be constantly kept in water. It is
consequently used for pumps, sluices, pipes, drains, and conduits of
different description, and for the foundation of buildings situated in
swamps. The water pipes which are laid under the streets of many of our
large towns are made of alder; and, for its utility in the formation of
sluices, it is much cultivated in Holland. It is commonly used for bobbins;
and women's shoe-heels, ploughmen's clogs, and numerous articles of turnery
ware, are formed of it. This wood serves also for many domestic and rural
uses, for spinning-wheels, troughs, the handles of tools, ladders,
cart-wheels; and, as coppice wood, it is planted to be cut down every ninth
or tenth year, for poles. The roots and knots furnish a beautifully veined
wood, nearly of the colour of mahogany; and well adapted for cabinet work
and furniture.
The _bark_ may be advantageously used in the operations of tanning and
leather-dressing; and by fishermen, for staining their nets. This, and the
young twigs, are sometimes employed in dyeing, and yield different shades
of yellow and red. The Laplanders chew the bark of the alder, and dye their
leather garments red with the saliva thus produced. With the addition of
copperas, it yields a black dye, which the dyers of cotton use to
considerable extent; and, for this purpose, it is purchaseable in some
countries, at the rate of seven pence or eight pence per stone.
In the highlands of Scotland, we are informed that _young branches_ of the
alder, cut down in the summer, spread over the fields, and left during the
winter to decay, are found to answer the purpose of manure. The fresh
gathered _leaves_, being covered with a glutinous moisture, are said to be
sometimes strewed upon floors to destroy fleas, which become entangled in
it, as birds are with bird-lime. But these agile and troublesome insects
must be numerous indeed to render the setting of traps for them of any
avail towards their destruction.
230. _The COMMON NETTLE. There are two kinds of nettle common in England,
one of which_ (Urtica dioica) _has heart-shaped leaves, and the other_
(Urtica urens) _has oval leaves._
Although generally considered a noxious weed, the nettle is a plant of
extensive utility. By the country people the young and tender _leaves_ and
_tops_ are boiled for food, and are eaten as a substitute for greens and
other pot-herbs. Asses eagerly devour the leaves of nettles; and if these
be boiled, and mixed with other food for poultry, they are said to promote
their laying of eggs. A kind of rennet is made in the Highlands of
Scotland, by adding a quart of salt to three pints of a liquor produced by
the boiling of nettles. A tablespoonful of this is said to be sufficient to
coagulate a bowl of milk. From the fibrous _stalks_ of the nettle, dressed
in the manner of flax or hemp, cloth and paper may be made. The manufacture
of these has been pursued with success in some parts of the Continent; and
in our own country a coarse kind of canvass has been produced from them.
The _roots_, when boiled, communicate a yellow colour to woollen cloth,
linen, and cotton.
It must be remarked that the _stings_ of nettles, when examined by a
microscope, are shown to be extremely curious objects. They consist of a
slender, tapering, sharp, and hollow substance, with a minute hole at the
point, and a bag at the base. When the sting is pressed, it perforates the
skin, and the same pressure forces up from the bag, into the wound, a
corrosive liquor, which forms there a blister, and excites a burning and
painful inflammation. If the nettle be suddenly and strongly grasped, the
stings are bent or broken, and, in this case, occasion no pain.
In consequence of their stinging quality, nettles have been employed, with
advantage, in restoring sensation to paralytic limbs, by whipping them with
these plants. They were formerly much used as a styptic; and are said to
have been found useful in jaundice, scurvy, gout, and other complaints; but
most of the accounts that have been given of their great medicinal virtues
have now little credit. The _flowers_ and _seeds_ are said to have been
tried in Italy, and found an efficacious substitute for Peruvian bark (62)
in agues and other complaints. A leaf of the nettle put upon the tongue,
and then pressed against the roof of the mouth, is stated to be a remedy
for bleeding at the nose.
231. _The MULBERRY-TREE_ (Morus nigra, Fig. 72) _is a native of Italy,
and is known by its heart-shaped and rough leaves, and its large juicy
berries, each consisting of several smaller ones._
The flowers of the mulberry appear in June, and the _fruit_ becomes ripe in
September, the berries continuing to ripen in succession for about two
months. These, if eaten before they are ripe, are astringent; but, when
ripe, are pleasantly acid, though of very peculiar flavour. An agreeable
syrup, made from the _juice_ of the ripe fruit, is kept in apothecaries'
shops for medicinal uses. The juice itself is employed to impart a dark
tinge to liquors and confections; and, when properly fermented, it becomes
a pleasant wine. In cider counties it is not unusual to mix mulberries with
the apples destined for cider, by which is made a delicious beverage called
_mulberry cider_. Mulberries stain the fingers, as well as linen, cotton,
or woollen, of a red colour, which is difficult to be extracted; but which
may be removed by verjuice, or the acid of lemons.
In Italy, and other countries where silkworms are bred, the _leaves_ of the
mulberry-tree, but particularly those of the WHITE MULBERRY, which is
distinguished by its having obliquely heart-shaped and smooth leaves, are
requisite for the feeding of these insects; and they are very extensively
cultivated for this purpose. The _wood_ is hard and of yellow colour; and
is applied to numerous uses in carving and turnery. The _bark_ is so
fibrous that it may be manufactured into cordage, ropes, and coarse paper;
and that of the root has an acrid and bitter taste, is powerful in its
effects, and has been successfully used as a remedy against worms,
particularly the tape-worm. Mulberry-trees flourish best in a light and
rich soil, and in open situations.
232. _The BOX-TREE_ (Buxus sempervirens) _is a shrubby evergreen tree,
twelve or fifteen feet high, which has small, oval, and opposite leaves,
and grows wild in several parts of Britain._
It has been remarked that this tree was formerly so common in some parts of
England, as to have given name to several places, particularly to Box-hill
in Surrey, and Boxley in Kent; and, in 1815, there were cut down at
Box-hill as many of these trees as were sold for upwards of 10,000_l._, a
circumstance perhaps unparalleled in their history. The box-tree was much
admired by the ancient Romans, and also by our own ancestors, on account of
its being easily clipped into the form of animals, and other fantastic
shapes. In the South of Europe it is cultivated in gardens, and kept in
flower-pots, with as much attention as we bestow upon myrtles.
The _wood_ is of yellowish colour, close-grained, very hard and heavy, and
admits of a beautiful polish. On these accounts it is much used by turners,
by engravers on wood, carvers, and mathematical instrument makers. Flutes
and other wind instruments are formed of it; and furniture made of box-wood
would be valuable were it not too heavy, as it would not only be very
beautiful, but its bitter quality would secure it from the attacks of
insects. In France it is much in demand for combs, knife-handles, and
button-moulds; and it has been stated that the quantity of box-wood
annually sent from Spain to Paris is alone estimated at the value of more
than 10,000 livres.
An oil distilled from the shavings of box-wood has been found to relieve
the tooth-ache, and to be useful in other complaints; and the powdered
_leaves_ destroy worms.