908 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM, 



1696. F.sjlTitica. 



sheltering gardens, orchards, and small fields for affording early grass, the 

 beech has no equal among deciduous trees ; for, as Boutcher observes, 

 by retaining its withered leaves all the winter, it affords the same protection 

 as an evergreen. The beech will grow on dry soils, including sand, gravel, 

 and chalk, more freely than most other trees ; though it is found in the 

 greatest perfection in sandy calcareous loam, or in fresh sandy loam on 

 clay or rock. The most magnificent beeches in France are in Normandy, 

 on the private estate of the king, Louis Philippe, where the soil is a 

 loam on chalk rock. The species is always raised from the seeds or nuts, 

 which are commonly called mast. These begin to drop from the husks in the 

 months of October and November ; and this process may be accelerated by 

 shaking the tree. The nuts may then be gathered up, and dried in the sun, or in 

 an airy shed or loft ; after which, they may be mixed with sand that is per- 

 fectly drj', at the rate of three bushels of sand to one of mast. By some, 

 the mast is spread in a thin stratum on a loft floor, without any sand ; 

 where it remains till the following spring, being occasionally turned over, 

 and being covered with straw to exclude the frost. The mast, from which an 

 oil is made in France, retains its vital properties for one year only ; and, 

 therefore, it must be sown, at the latest, during the following spring. The 

 common time is from the beginning of March till the beginning of April. 

 Autumn might be adopted for sowing, were it not that the nuts are greedily 

 sought after, through the winter, by mice and other vermin. The soil in which 

 the nuts are sown ought always to be light, and more or less rich, as the plants 

 are rather tender when young. They may either be sown in beds or in drills, 

 with the usual covering of soil, being about 1 in. The seeds should not lie 

 nearer to one another, when sown, than 1 in. Mast, sown in the autumn, 

 will come up in April ; and that sawn in spring, seldom later than the 

 beginning of May. The varieties are propagated by layers, inarching, or 



