THEE FORMS. 2o 



that ' contrary to the general nature of trees, 

 the Beech is most pleasing in its juvenile state, 

 as' it has not yet acquired that heaviness which 

 is its most faulty distinction. A light, airy 

 young Beech with its spiry branches, hanging, as 

 I have just described them, in easy forms, is 

 often beautiful. I have also seen the forest 

 Beech, in a dry, hungry soil, preserve the lightness 

 of youth in the maturity of age.' 



In the editorial remarks in * Forest Scenery,' 

 the present writer has expressed the opinion that 

 for some reason Gilpin entertained a prejudice 

 against the Beech. In some points that author's 

 criticism is incorrect, and his deductions from 

 his admissions are not, in the present writer's 

 opinion, consistent. The ' dingy olive ' hue, is 

 not the natural hue of the Besch bark, but is 

 imparted to it, more or less, by the lichens which 

 stain it, so to speak. The ' fantastical ' wreath- 

 ing of the branches, too, adds, we think, to its 

 ' picturesque beauty,' and few who have seen a 

 fine and characteristic Beech wood in Winter 

 would be inclined, we believe, to deny that the 

 scene was one of singular beauty. The grooved 



