240 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY. 



germinating ; it is good seed if 70 per cent, germinate. 

 One pound contains on an average about 14000 clean 

 seeds without wings. 



The seed germinates only in the second spring, that 

 is to say about eighteen months after ripening. The 

 best treatment consists in bedding it mixed with sand 

 ,in a ditch, stirring it from time to time, and sowing it 

 in the spring of the second year. About 35 pounds 

 of seed per acre are required for broadcast sowings ; it 

 requires a covering of about ^ to f of an inch. 



In nurseries, the seed should be sown in drills; the 

 seedlings may be pricked out when one year old. 

 Plantings are done with plants three years old and 

 upwards. They stand pruning well. The tree can also be 

 propagated by cuttings, 'which may be several feet long ; 

 the latter method may be employed for hedges. In 

 regenerating Hornbeam naturally by seed, the seeding 

 cutting is much heavier than for Beech, while the 

 remaining shelter-wood may be removed much more 

 rapidly, owing to the hardy nature of the tree. 



i. Tending. 



Hornbeam is well adapted to maintain the fertility of 

 the soil, but not to the same extent as Beech. It is 

 little threatened by external dangers ; the tree is frost- 

 hardy, but during youth liable to suffer from continued 

 drought. Inundations affect it little. Game and cattle 

 browse the leaves, and mice peel the bark, which is also 

 sometimes done by red deer. The damage heals, 

 however, quickly. 



The Hornbeam rarely suffers from insect-attacks. The 

 species infesting it are much the same as those of the 



