Among the Trees at Elmridge

t, as she caught up with her governess on a run; "hasn'

rse, at once

; 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 h

bed Edith; "Clara snatched it a

adle where the branches grew low--for they were enjoying an afternoon i

dle not,' until you have asked permission. But I am going to let you all chew as many birch-shoots as you wan

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

nt, Miss Harson," aske

thought it would make you happier, but I have my doubts as to whether it would do so. In the first place

t their friend and governess, but Malcolm thought he would like to t

us to go on as usual; but I think that a little tent could be put up here somewhe

, and Malcolm finally condescen

ecause 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 re

d Malcolm: "there are flo

ar name for these tree-bl

ins?" inquired

see, like long tassels of purple and gold, a

above him hung her

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

creamed Edith,

colm declared that she was just lik

asked their governess, in dismay

if it's warm enough for him yet. But he has gone back into his hole frighten

ots, and, expecting the poor startled garter-snake to com

a moment, and it was soon found t

s such an innocent little snake to make all this fuss abou

etty?" asked Edith,

this one had lovely stripes.

o think of a snake being pretty, and she felt quite ash

thinking aloud. "But I thought it must be

"But come, Edith; see what a nice cane Malcolm has just cut to help your lame foot with. He is off

oot was quite painful, though, and considerably swollen; and Clara bathed it with

r little invalid will not care t

EAVED WHI

, and it was decided to take a

colm--"not the kind we've been eating, but

hite, chalky and dotted with black; the red birch, with bark of a reddish or chocolate color; the yellow birch, bark yellowish, with a silvery lustr

w in our woods

h, 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 birc

t bea

es, the lady

t seemed so comical; but Miss Harson said that she thought t

-BIRC

ars. 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 whi

said Malcolm. "What kept it

in, and we shall have to take the story just as it is. We certainly know tha

asked Clara, who thought that this promise

h 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 relat

much red about it, aft

"the baby" was fast asleep, but Miss Harson was afraid that she had t

birch is yellow,"

lsa--'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 g

anoe birch has got to come next, becau

try. 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 w

ed Clara; "did you ever se

; "I once wrote a le

eager voices. "How could y

ot 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 acc

that there were canoe-birch trees growing at Elmridge, tha

o read you an account of canoe-making, and

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

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

picture of the Kentucky pio

ndians are trying to kil

rly settlers of these Western lands, had trouble with the Indians. Nor is this strange. These pioneers were often rough men, and were

ther 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 pit

IRCH-BAR

lcolm. "'Rind-tents'! I wish I could see one. Did t

glish 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,

t 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 excel

ken with the idea of doing it by night with blazing torches, and he thought that

beds for their children, and from me is prepared the mona, their sole medicine in all diseases. My buds in spring

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

ra. "Can you tell us something more

with a smile, "which I will read out of an old book;

s time, and her great blue eyes looked a

h 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 the