necessary, nothing answers our purpose like the beech. But, at present, we are not considering the beech in composition, but only as an individual; and in this light it is in which we chiefly conceive it as an object of disapprobation. "We should not conclude our remarks on the beech without mentioning its autumnal hues. In this respect it is often beautiful. Sometimes it is dressed in modest brown, but generally in glowing orange; and in both dresses its harmony with the grove is pleasing. About the end of September, when the leaf begins to change, it makes a happy contrast with the oak, whose foliage is yet verdant. Some of the finest oppositions of tint which, perhaps, the forest can furnish arise from the union of oak and beech. We often see a wonderful effect from this combination: and yet, accommodating as its leaf is in landscape, on handling, it feels as if it were fabricated with metallic rigour. In its autumnal state, it almost crackles:- Leni crepitabat bractea vento." For this reason, I suppose, as its rigour gives it an elastic quality, the common people in France and Switzerland use it for their beds. I have dwelt the longer on the beech, as, notwithstanding my severity, it is a tree of picturesque fame; and I did not choose to condemn it without giving my reasons. It has acquired its reputation, I suppose, chiefly from its having a peculiar character; and this, with all its defects, it certainly has. I may add also, that, if objects receive merit from their associated, as well as from their intrinsic, qualities, the dry soil and salubrious air in which the beech generally flourishes, give it a high degree of estimation." (Gilp. For. Scen., vol. i. p. 50.)

"The spray of the beech," Gilpin continues, "observes the same kind of alternacy as that of the elm; but it

shoots in angles still more acute

(fig. 1879.); the distance between each twig is wider; and it forms a kind of zigzag course.

We

esteem the beech also, in some de

1879

gree, a pendent tree, as well as the ash; but there is a wide difference between them. The ash is a light airy tree, and its spray hangs in loose elegant foliage; but the hanging spray of the beech (fig. 1880.), in old trees especially, is often twisted, and intermingled disagreeably; and has a perplexed matted appearance. The whole tree gives us something of the idea of an entangled head of bushy hair, from which, here and there, hangs a disorderly lock; while the spray of the ash, like hair neither neglected nor finically nice, has nothing squa

1880

lid in it, and yet hangs in loose and easy curis." (Ibid., p. 114.) If an ordinary old beech tree gives the idea of an entangled head of hair, the inosculated beech at Westbury (figs. 1881. and 1884.), may be compared to a head of hair affected with the plica polonica.

On Gilpin's observations on the beech, Sir T. D. Lauder justly observes, that they afford "one of the instances in which the author's love for the art of representing the objects of nature with the pencil, and his associations with the pleasures of that art, have very much led him astray. We are disposed to go along with him in a great measure, so far as we, like him, draw our associations with this tree from the same source. But we conceive we have much the advantage of him, in being able to indulge in the pleasures arising from the contemplation of a noble beech as one of the most magnificent objects of God's fair creation. Some of the very circumstances which render it unpicturesque, or, in other words, which render it an unmanageable subject of art, highly contribute to render it beautiful. The glazed surface of the leaf, which brightly reflects the sun's rays, and the gentle emotions of light, if we may venture so to express ourselves, which sometimes steal over the surface of its foliage with the breathing of the balmy breeze, although difficult, or

rather almost impossible, to be represented by the artist, are accidents which are productive of very pleasing ideas in the mind of the feeling observer of nature. They make spreading trees and noble shades,' says old Evelyn, 'with their well-furnished and glittering leaves, being set at 40 ft. distance. But they grow taller, and more upright, in the forests, where I have beheld them, at 8 ft. and 10 ft., shoot into very long poles; but neither so apt for timber nor fuel. In the valleys, where they stand nearest in consort, they will grow to a stupendous procerity, though the soil be stony and very barren; also upon the declivities, sides, and tops of hills.' We remember to have been much gratified with the effect of this tree, where all other trees were absent: it was in Italy, on the very summit of the Valombrosan Apennine. During our progress through the scorching plains of Italy (nay, we may safely say, after bidding adieu to England), we had seen nothing to resemble the green sward of a British lawn. What was our agreeable surprise, then, when, on emerging from the upper boundary of those forests of chestnut and other trees which there cover the declivities of the mountains, we entered at last on a beautiful sloping and undulating lawn, composed of shaven turf of the richest possible verdure, every where surrounded by fine spreading beeches, running into the open ground in irregular promontories, and receding in bays, in which the velvet surface of the pasture stole gradually into the cool shade! The whole was like a scene of magic. It was like a perfect and well-kept English park; and this produced by the enchanting hand of nature, on the summit of the Apennines. We selected the most pleasing spot we could find on the very top; and there, under the umbrageous cover of one of the largest trees, we eat our well-earned meal, where the boundless prospect gave to our wondering and delighted eyes, the view of the waters of the Mediterranean on the one side, and those of the Adriatic on the other. We must confess, that we have hardly ever seen a beech tree since, without its bringing to our recollection the enjoyments of that most celestial day; and the reader will easily be able to trace the combination of pleasing associations which made it so." (Lauder's Gilpin, vol. i. p. 101.)

Soil and Situation. The beech will grow on dry soils, including sand, gravel, and chalk, more freely than most other trees; though it is found in the greatest perfection in sandy calcareous loam or in fresh sandy loam on clay or rock. On both sandy and clayey soils, it sometimes becomes a tree of great magnitude, as in the case of the beech at Knowle, in Kent, which grows in pure sand, and which is 105 ft. high, with a head 123 ft. in diameter; and the avenues at Panmure, in Forfarshire, on clayey loam, where, Mr. Sang informs us, there are specimens 90 ft. high, with clear trunks of upwards of 50 ft. Among rocks, crags, and where there is little or no soil to be seen, and in low situations by the banks of streams, Sang informs us that the beech will grow to a vast and very uncommon size. It will thrive in elevated situations, but is not found at so great a height as the sycamore, or even the oak. (See Geography, &c., p. 1955.)

Propagation and Culture. The species is universally propagated by seed, and the varieties by budding, grafting, or inarching. The seeds or nuts, which are commonly called mast, begin to drop from the husks in the months of October and November; and this process may be accelerated by shaking the tree. The nuts may then be gathered up, and dried in the sun, or in an airy shed or loft; after which, they may be mixed with sand that is perfectly dry, at the rate of three bushels of sand to one of mast. French authors direct that the sand in which the mast is kept should be slightly watered once a month; which shows in a striking manner the difference as to dryness between the climate of France and that of England. By some, the mast is spread in a thin stratum on a loft floor, without any sand; where it remains, being occasionally turned over, till the following spring, and being covered with straw to exclude the frost. The mast only retains its vital properties for one year; and, therefore, it must be sown, at the latest, during the following spring. The common time is from the beginning

of March till the beginning of April. Autumn might be adopted for sowing, were it not that the nuts are greedily sought after, through the winter, by mice and other vermin. One bushel of seed, according to Mitchell, weighs 34 lb. unheaped, and contains 58,656 seeds. From 13 bushel of seeds, the produce of the year 1786, kept in sand till the following spring, not less than 150,000 plants were raised, and planted on the Muirland Hills, at Dillorn, Staffordshire, by J. Halliday, Esq., who received a gold medal for so doing. (Trans, Soc. Arts, vol. x., for 1792, p. 18.) The soil in which the nuts are sown ought always to be light, and more or less rich, as the plants are rather tender when young. They may either be sown in beds, or in drills, with the usual covering of soil, being about 1 in. The seeds should not lie nearer to one another, when sown, than 1 in. Mast, sown in the autumn, will come up in April; and that sown in spring, seldom later than the beginning of May. Boutcher sows in the beginning of March, in thin shallow drills, about 1 ft. 6 in. asunder; watering, if the season is dry, frequently, but moderately, from the plants beginning to appear above ground, till the middle of August; which, he says, greatly forwards their growth. "In March, next season, with a spade made very sharp for the purpose, undermine the roots as they stand in the drills, and cut them over between 4 in, or 5 in. under ground. The following autumn or spring, you may either raise the whole, or give them another cutting below ground; when, gently raising such as are too thick, leave the remainder, at proper distances, to stand another season. This manner of cutting the roots dexterously has, in a great measure, the same effect as transplanting." (Treatise, &c., p. 22.) After the plants have stood 2 years, or, if in poor soil, 3 years, they may be transplanted in lines 2 ft, asunder, and 9 in. or 10 in. in the line. A great error in treating the beech tree at this age, Boutcher observes, is trimming off all its side branches, and planting only the bare stem. This, he says, is doing the greatest violence to the plants, as no tree admits of being less pruned at transplanting than the beech, especially when young; the plants "constantly turning hide-bound and stunted when that is severely done;" therefore, nothing but “very cross ill-placed branches, and even these very sparingly, are to be touched at this time." After the plants have remained in these lines 2 years, they are to be removed into other lines, 3 ft. 6 in. asunder, and at 1 ft. 6 in. apart in the line; whence, after remaining in good soil 3, but in poor land 4, years, they may either be removed into a general plantation, where they are to remain permanently, or, if they are to be transplanted from the nursery of a large size, they must undergo the further discipline of being once, twice, or thrice transplanted, till at last they stand 10 ft. asunder every way. During the whole of this treatment, they must scarcely receive any pruning, except in the season before final removal. At their removal they must not be pruned at all; but, when once established, they may be pruned at pleasure, as every beech hedge and beech coppice shows. In respect to the latter, indeed, a common expression in Buckinghamshire is, "Cut a beech, and have a beech."

Final Culture in Plantations. The beech, after being transplanted where it is finally to remain, if in masses, and the plants not above 3 ft. or 4 ft. high, may be cut down to the ground, and the leading shoot produced the following year selected, and trained so as to form a clear stem. It has been found, from experience, that trees of 20 years' or 30 years' growth, when transplanted, suffer much by pruning at that time, and cannot have their heads cut in, like the oak, the elm, and almost every other species of deciduous membranaceous-leaved trees, when they are transplanted of large size. They may, however, be cut in a year or two years before removal, and will, in that case, transplant with a much better chance of success. Where a beech wood is to be formed on a light poor soil, provided the surface admits of being pulverised by the plough and harrow, or of being trenched, it may be sown with mast in drills, without the admixture of the seeds of any other tree. The ground may be cultivated, for two or three years, between the rows, by horse-hoeing; and the plants may be thinned out the second year, so as to stand at 6 ft. apart in

the row. If the rows are 6 ft. asunder, the plantation will form a very suitable coppice for cutting every seventh year; or, if every tenth plant be permitted to become a timber tree, the result will be a beech wood, with ample spaces between the trees for the growth of coppice.

Felling the Beech for Timber, the successional Trees, &c. As full-grown trees do not stole, they are generally taken up by the roots. The usual season is winter; though some French authors assert that the English practice is to fell beech trees in the beginning of summer, when the sap is in full motion. In Buckinghamshire, beech woods have been succeeded by beech woods from time immemorial; the mast which has dropped from the trees springing up, and supplying the place of those that are removed. In artificial culture, however, a different natural order of trees, it would seem, ought to be made to succeed the beech; though, on very thin soils on chalk, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to name a tree that would produce an equal bulk of timber in the same number of years, independently altogether of the value of its timber. It is certain, that none of the poplars, beeches, or willows, would do this; nor will any of the pines or firs thrive where the subsoil is chalk. Where, however, the soil is deeper than it is in Buckinghamshire, the theory of a succession of a timber crop may, perhaps, be advantageously carried into execution; but the beech, on a thin surface of vegetable soil on chalk, seems to be an exception: or, perhaps, several crops may be taken on such soils, and, consequently, several generations elapse, before a change of crop is required.

Accidents, Diseases, &c. The full-grown beech, from the acuteness of the angle which the branches form with the trunk, presents, as we have already mentioned (p. 1954.), less leverage to the wind than the branches of many other trees, and is, consequently, liable to few accidents from storms. Large detached trees, when of a great age, are, like all others under similar circumstances, liable to be blown down; but, in general, few trees are seen more perfect in their form than the beech. It is subject to few diseases, unless we except that tufted appearance named Erineum fagineum Pers., Grev. Crypt., t. 250., which is sometimes found on the leaves, and which some botanists consider to be a fungus; but which the Rev. M. J. Berkeley considers a disease produced by a surorganisation of the cellular tissue. The trunk and branches of the beech are subject to nodosities, seldom above 1 in. or 2 in. in diameter, but which sometimes are much larger. These are probably originated by the puncture of some insect, and are to the wood of the beech what the galls of the oak are to the leaves of that tree. The branches from their number, proximity, and liability to cross each other, may occasionally be found inosculated; and a remarkable example of this occurs in a wood called West Hay, between Cliff and Stamford, belonging to the Marquess of Exeter. We are indebted, for a knowledge of this tree, to the kindness of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley; and to Mrs. Berkeley for the very beautiful and accurate drawings from which figs. 1881. and 1884. are engraved. Fig. 1881. is to our usual scale for full-grown trees of 1 in. to 12 ft.; and fig. 1884. in p. 1972., which shows a portion of the trunk, is to a scale of 2 ft. 6 in. to 1 in.

The only quadrupeds that we are aware of, that do much injury to the beech, are deer and cattle pasturing round them, which, however, as before observed, crop their branches much less than they do those of most other trees; and the squirrel, which, however, is most injurious to young beech trees, by feeding on the inner bark. These animals appear to prefer the bark on the lower part of the tree, as, indeed, do rats, mice, and most animals that gnaw through stems of young trees. The squirrel, however, when pressed for food, will attack both the beech and hornbeam, when the trees are of considerable size, stripping off the outer bark in pieces of from 3 in. to 6 in. in length; and then feeding on the inner bark and the soft wood. It has been found that coating the stems of trees for 5 ft. or 6 ft. in height, with a mixture of tar and grease, will deter the squirrels from attacking them.

Insects. Comparatively few insects attack the beech, and those which do chiefly belong to the order Lepidoptera, and are in the caterpillar state. Of these the following are the most interesting species:- Staúropus fàgi (the lobster),

Notodonta dromedàrius, Lophópteryx camelina, Petàsia cassínea, E'ndromis versicolor (Glory of Kent moth), Aglaia taú; all belonging to the Linnæan Bombyces. Amongst the Noctuidae are, Orthosia stábilis, Misèlia aprilìna, Catocala fráxini; and, amongst the Geométridæ, Hímera pennària, Epìone vespertària, Lobóphora hexapteràta, together with Drépana unguicula and Hylóphila prasinària. One of the gall flies, also, (Cynips fagi) attacks the leaves of Fagus sylvatica, forming galls upon them; and Psylla fagi Linn., also, feeds upon the leaves, occasionally in such numbers as to cause them to appear covered with white flakes of wool or cotton; the larvæ and pupæ being clothed with a long downy secretion, perfectly white. (Réaum. Mém., tom. iii. pl. 26. fig. 1-6.) The Fungi which grow upon the Beech, in Great Britain, are rather numerous, and the following list of them has been kindly sent to us by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley

Those upon the Bark, Wood, or fallen Branches, are: Agáricus mucidus Schrad., syn. A. nítidus Fl. Dan., t. 773., and our fig. 1893.; A. salígnus Pers.; A. mastrucàtus Fr., syn. A. echinàtus Sow., t. 99., and our fig. 1882.; 4. leoninus Scheff., t. 48.; 4. phlebóphorus Ditm., Grev., t. 173., and our fig. 1885.; A. adipòsus Batsch, a most splendid species, the pileus of which, in fine speci

1882

1883