THE BEECH 107 



and Tilburstow as on the chalk at Betckworth and 

 Norbury. The hills of Gloucestershire on either 

 side of the Severn, though of very different geologi- 

 cal ages, bear some splendid woods of Beech ; the 

 chalk hills of Buckinghamshire (a county that owes 

 its names to its former wealth of " buck " or beech- 

 mast) still supply the chairmakers of High 

 Wycombe ; and the Londoner glories alike in the 

 grand old pollards of Burnham in that county, and 

 in the mostly younger, but often unlopped, trees 

 in the forest of Epping, in Essex both now pre- 

 served to him and his successors in perpetuity by 

 the City Corporation. 



Though not glossy, like that of the Birch, the 

 smooth, olive- grey bark of the Beech gives it a 

 charm even in the winter months. Then, too, 

 though the lower boughs are often still decked 

 with the crisp, dead leaves of the previous year, 

 which reflect each transient sungleam from- their 

 surfaces of polished copper, we can see most 

 clearly the splendid outlines of this king of the 

 forests. Its roots spread far and close together to 

 gain a firm footing that the gale can seldom over- 

 come, and above them towers the smooth, unbroken, 

 pillar-like stem, often seen with a girth of from 

 fifteen to twenty feet, and reaching as many feet in 

 height without a branch. When not pollarded, the 

 Beech frequently bifurcates naturally, each branch, 

 of which there may sometimes be three or four, 

 rising vertically, " each in itself a tree," like the 

 clustered columns of a Gothic aisle. From the 

 main branches sweep outwards the more knotted 



