1968 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART IIT. 
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 10ft., 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.” (Lau- 
der’s Gilpin, vol. i. p. 101.) 
Soi 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 toa 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 dif- 
ference 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 
