Birch. - Among the many species of birch, the cherry or black birch supplies the best lumber. The wood is heavy and strong, colored brownish-red, with a fine, compact, and evenly marked grain, due to the absence of many vessels in the annual rings, and has very small but visible medullary rays. It is used in ship-building, turning, and extensively in cheap furniture.

White Oak is the standard by which the strength, durability, hardness, and other qualities of the various woods are compared. It is distributed generally throughout the eastern half of the United States, grows to a large size, and furnishes superior timber. Large vessels in the spring growth occupy from one third to one half of the narrow annual rings. The medullary rays are large, thick, and exceedingly hard. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, difficult to split radially, coarse-grained, and colored a light brown. It is used in structures requiring great strength, and especially in ship-building, cooperage, and carriage-mak-ing.

Red Oak. - A very large forest tree of the United States. It furnishes a heavy, hard, and strong wood, with a very coarse grain, due to a large number of vessels of uniform size crowded into the first half of the annual growth, and also to the large and thick medullary rays. The wood is reddish brown, durable, and used extensively for furniture and cabinet-work generally.

Chestnut. - A very large forest tree common in the Atlantic States, having a characteristic coarse-grained wood. The annual growth is considerable, frequently over half an inch, in which the vessels are numerous, large in the spring wood, but gradually becoming smaller toward the summer growth. The medullary rays are small and indistinct. The wood is light, moderately soft, breaks and splits easily, is remarkably durable exposed to the weather and not in contact with the soil. The tree reaches its best condition at about fifty years of age, after which it is very liable to decay in the middle of the heart-wood. It is well adapted for the coarser parts of a, building, is used to a small extent in cabinet-work, and extensively for out-of-door structures.

Beech. - A large forest tree growing generally east of the Mississippi, provides a heavy, hard, and strong wood. It has a fine, even grain, is of a light color, and has large medullary rays. It is used to a limited extent for furniture, but more for implements, especially plane-stocks.

Black Walnut is one of our finest and largest timber-trees, growing in the central and eastern portions of the United States. It furnishes long, wide planks and boards of superior qualities. The wood is moderately heavy and hard, dark, porous, and marked by a beautiful grain. It is strong, durable, and not liable to the attacks of insects. The annual rings contain many vessels, and the medullary rays are ex-3 ceedingly small. At one time it was the favorite wood, and. extensively used for internal decoration and fancy-work. It is still largely used combined with veneers from roots and knurls of European varieties. Gun-stocks are almost exclusively made of walnut.

Butternut is a small species of walnut, giving a light and soft wood, with a well-marked grain. Its lumber is short in length, not liable to split, noted for its resistance to heat and moisture, and the ease with which it receives paint or polish. It is used in cabinet-work.

Hickory is a tree of branching habit, found commonly in the United States. Its wood is heavy, tough, very strong, and usually cut into planks. The annual rings are indistinct and crowded with fine vessels, or marked by a narrow zone of larger vessels. The medullary rays are very broad, numerous, and distinct. The flexibility and toughness of the wood cause it to be extensively used in the construction of implements, tools, carriages, etc. Difficulty of working and liability to the attacks of boring insects prevent its use in building.

Buttonwood, or sycamore, is the largest tree of the oak group in the United States. It furnishes a heavy, hard, light-brown wood, with a fine, close grain. It is readily polished, easily broken, and difficult to work. Throughout its annual rings are small vessels, very numerous in the spring growth. The medullary rays are numerous and thick, and give to the radial section a silver grain similar to that of beech but more strongly marked. The great liability of the wood to decay, and its tendency to warp, restrict its use to structures thoroughly protected from the atmosphere and moisture.

Ash. - A large tree growing in the colder portions of the United States, furnishes a moderately heavy, hard, strong, and very elastic wood. The annual rings are compact, with large vessels in the spring growth. The medullary rays are numerous, small, and thin. The wood is coarse-grained, light brown, and extensively used for implements and machinery, for furniture and cabinet-work. Its liability to decay, and its brittleness with age, prevent its use in heavy work.

Apple. - The reddish-colored wood of the familiar fruit tree, is moderately heavy.and hard, has a very compact and fine grain. The annual rings are narrow with small vessels, and the medullary rays are very fine and crowded. The wood is preferred for tool-handles, turnery, and smok-ing-pipes.

Pear. - In structure the wood of the pear-tree is similar to that of the apple. It becomes hard and dense when dry, and yields readily to edge tools. Its almost grainless character adapts it for a variety of purposes, particularly carving and the coarsest kinds of wood-engraving.

Wild Cherry. - A tree common in the United States, furnishes a moderately heavy, hard, and durable wood. The annual rings are wide and evenly filled with small vessels. The medullary rays are fine, crowded, and light red in color. The grain is fine and close, and the wood easily polished. It is brownish red in color, and used extensively for cabinetwork. After several years the wood becomes very brittle.