Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1919 — Birch Bark. [ARTICLE]

Birch Bark.

The bark of the yellow birch can be compared with nothing else. The tree Is unique among trees. The yellow btrch, often better called the sliver birch, has a bark more tinsel-like than that of any other tree. It seems to have been made for campers to admire, or perhaps, in an emergency, to use to kindle the camp fire. But do not allow the appreciation of the useful to overcome your appreciation of the beautiful. Itjs true that the bark may thus be used for kindling, aijd it is also probably true that the removal of the loose bark does not Injure the tree, but such removal injures the beauty of the tree, as you then deprive it of its chief characteristic. The manner in which the bark breaks on the main trunk, expands and rolls back in ribbon-like curls and strips, which long remain attached and rustle in every passing breeze could not fall to elicit the admiration of every lover of the forest. It is noticeable that on old trunks the character of the bark is different, as there it is roughened by irregular plate-llke scales.—Boys’ Life.