1

Birch bark
Circa 1940
Mauricie Park, Laurentian Club (Quebec), Canada


Credits:
Unknown

2

Here is an anecdote told by Charles " Ti-Charles " Obomsawin to his brother-in-law Patrick Côté about the sugary birch:
Novice guides went through an initiation involving birch. In June, when the birch trees are full of sap, the novice was brought to the forest and placed in front of a birch tree which had been cut with two incisions, one perpendicular and one vertical. Following a given signal, the guide would tap the birch and BANG! The bark exploded and sprayed its sweet sap onto the young novice. Black flies were soon attracted by the sugar and flew around the novice.