ARBORICULTURE 



LmtfARY 



A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



Published in the Interest of the 

 International Society of Arboriculture. 



NEW YORK 



BOTAN/CAL 



QARD6N 



Subscription $1.00 per annum. 



John P. Brown, Editor and Publisher. 



Entered as Second-class Matter, January 4th, 1904. 



Vol. VI. 



Connersville, Indiana, September, 1907. 



Number 5. 



In The Beech Woods. 



The A-Mericax Beegh, Fagus ferruginea, 

 is one of the beautiful trees of our forests. 

 Its shade is dense, cool and invitini;. .V., 

 a rule the beech grows among other trci's 

 rather than forming a forest entirely, al- 

 though at times it is the prrdomiuating 

 species present. 



The character of the bole depends upon 

 the soil in which it grows, and density of 

 the forest. At times the trees are of great 

 lieight, straight tranks free from l^ranches 

 and knots. Again the trees will l)p short 

 l)odies, lo^\• l)ranched and extremely knotty. 

 It is found from the Gulf of Me.xico north- 

 ward througli the Middle States, Imt not 

 west of the Mississippi River. 



Tt lias a comparatively small economie 

 \alue, but as the more desiraljle woods liavo 

 been removed from the Middle States 

 farms, this is the principal timber remain- 

 ing, and is now being sawed into common 

 rdugli lumber. 



For fuel it has been rejected, so long as 

 hickory, ash, sugar tree or oak coiild be ob- 

 tained, as being too diillicult to split. The 

 grain is interwoven and ver}- knotty except 

 in the dense forests. 



The nuts, which are triangular, are very 

 sweet and palatable. 



Swine rapidly fatten when beech mast 

 is in season. 



Beech lumber warps and twists very 

 badly in dr^-ing and is usually sawed into 

 studding and laroe size timber. If se- 



cured with abundant nails it may be held 

 in place. 



When carefully kiln dried, it is u^ed for 

 some, inside work, having a very handsome 

 grain when quarter-sawed. 



Beech decays quickl}' -when in coutaci 

 vrith soil, or moisture. Yet by thorough 

 impregnation with creosote or zinc chlor- 

 ide its life is extended a dozen or more 

 years. 



The Pennsylvania and other railways 

 have experimented quite largely with 

 ceosoted beech ties, Imt there has not yet 

 been sufficient time to determine the re- 

 sults. 



Small tool handles, not liable to injury 

 from warping, and plane stocks always 

 kept dry, are made of beech to ad\'antage. 



The Root Systioi of Ijeech is entirely 

 along the surface — often on top of ground. 

 1'raniping by stock and erosion on the 

 slopes of hills, soon kills the tree, causing 

 ;iL first dead tops, and then decay follows 

 the trunk downward. 



The Beech of Eukope, t agus si/lva- 

 lica, resembles the American tree m many 

 particulars. From this there have result- 

 ed several ornamental varieties, the purple 

 beech, copper beech, and the weeping form 

 are all admired for park and ornamental 

 planting. 



Our illustration show? some of the few 

 remaininsf beech woods in Indiana, where 

 the editor's family spent the day. 



