n in all Northern regions as
the white birch--quite as useful, too, as we shall soon see. This rugged
species--which is generally called the Scotch fir--is not so smooth and
handsome as our balsam-fir, but it is a tree which the people who live
near the great Northern forests of Europe could not easily do without.
It belongs to the great pine family and is often called a pine, but in
the countries of Great Britain especially it is called the Scotch fir.
Although well shaped, it is not a particularly elegant-looking tree. The
branches are generally gnarled and broken, and the style of the tree is
more sturdy than graceful. The Scotch fir often grows to the height of a
hundred feet, and the bark is of a reddish tinge. 'It is one of the most
useful of the tribe, and, like the bountiful palm, confers the greatest
blessing on the inhabitants of the country where it grows. It serves the
peasants of the bleak, barren parts of Sweden and Lapland for food:
their scanty supply of meal often runs short, and they go to the pine to
eke it out. They choose the oldest and least resinous of the branches
and take out the inner bark. They first grind it in a mill, and then mix
it with their store of meal; after this it is worked into dough and made
into cakes like pancakes. The bark-bread is a valuable addition to
their slender resources, and sometimes the young shoots are used as
well as the bark. Indeed, so largely is this store of food drawn upon
that many trees have been destroyed, and in some places the forest is
actually thinned."

"They're as bad as the squirrels," said Malcolm. "But how I should hate
to eat such stuff!"

"It may not be so very bad," replied his governess. "Some people think
that only white bread is fit to eat, but I think that Kitty's brown
bread is rather liked in this family."

The children all laughed, for didn't papa declare--with _such_ a sober
face!--that they were eating him out of house and home in brown bread
alone? Kitty, too, pretended to grumble because the plump loaves
disappeared so fast, but she said to herself at the same time, "Bless
their hearts! let 'em eat: it's better than a doctor's bill."

"A great many other things besides pancakes are made from the tree,"
continued Miss Harson, "and the fresh green tops furnish very
nice carpets."

There was a faint "_Oh!_" at this, but, after all, it was not so
surprising as the cakes had been.

"They are scattered on the floors of houses as rushe