50 THE NUT CULTUEIST. 



spreading specimen will give them. It may be that 

 the owner of said pasture may recall the lines of 

 Garcilaso : 



" But in calm idlesse laid, 



Supine in the cool shade 

 Of oak or ilex, beech or pendant pine, 



Sees his flocks feeding stray, 



Whitening a length of way, 

 Or numbers up his homeward-tending kine." 



He may be sure of one thing, and that is, the beech- 

 nuts produced by one or many trees will always be ac- 

 ceptable to the children, and of these hungry mortals 

 there is likely to be a few, at least, roaming about ill 

 ages to come, as in times past. 



The beech is not really a desirable tree to plant on 

 a lawn or near one's dwelling, because of its persistent 

 foliage, which clings to the twigs yery late in winter, 

 and the rustling of the wind through the dry leaves is 

 not soothing to one's nerves, although not quite as dis- 

 mal as the moaning pines. In summer, and until late 

 in autumn, the American beech is a noble and graceful 

 tree, and if I may be allowed the expression, one of 

 the cleanest of trees ; its large, thin, bright-green and 

 glossy leaves retain none of the dust and cast-oif mate- 

 rial of other trees which may be floating through the 

 air, but are ever bright and pure. The tree has natu- 

 rally wide-spreading and somewhat drooping branches, 

 and should be given plenty of room for development 

 when planted for the nuts or as an ornamental tree. Its 

 leaves and the small slender branchlets (Fig. 9) are eaten 

 with avidity by all kinds of farm animals ; consequently, 

 protection may be required until the trees have reached 

 a hight to be safe from such depredators. 



Beech seedlings do not usually come into bearing in 

 less than twenty to thirty years, but as no one in this 

 country has ever attempted to cultivate this tree for its 



