Dendrology 



73 



sided, sweet and edible nuts. The wood is fine-grained, 

 hard and strong, but not durable when in contact with 

 the soil or when used in a moist situation. The wood 

 makes a good interior finish and flooring, and is used for 

 handles. About the farm, it is especially valuable for 

 fuel and for purposes for which a strong wood is needed 

 and where it will remain dry. The beech will grow 

 excellently in a woodlot under the other and taller trees. 

 It forms an excellent understory in forestry. The Ameri- 

 can beech must not be confounded with the so-called 

 blue beech. The latter is a small tree and is entirely 

 distinct from the former. In winter, the American beech 

 may readily be recognized by its long, sharply pointed 

 light brown and scaly buds and its smooth gray bark. 

 No other tree in our northern forests has a bud like the 

 beech. 



THE AMERICAN BEECH 



The elms. Fig. 18 



The elms are valuable trees both for their strong, hard 

 and tough wood and for decorative planting. The elm 

 tree assumes a fountain-like or vase form and with its droop- 



