The Press

The bark of the yellow birch can be compared with nothing else. The tree is unique among trees. The yellow birch, often better called the silver 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. It is true that the bark may thus be used for kindling, and 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 fail 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-like scales.—Boys' Life.