390 APPENDIX 



or as coppice and grows to such an old age that almost every tree can reach large di- 

 mensions." 



The oak is well adapted to treatment as simple coppice and furnishes excellent fuel, 

 besides tannin bark, but its chief value is in dimension timber of large size. Treated as 

 high forest it flourishes in the plains, but does not reach its maximum value before 200 

 to 300 years of age. It requires early thinning and, since it impoverishes the soil, it 

 should not be grown pure, but in mixture with the beech or hornbeam. If these ac- 

 cessory species are lacking, it is indispensable to preserve undergrowth to protect the 

 soil from drying out. From this standpoint, grazing in an old high forest does a good 

 deal of damage. On the whole, the thicker crown of the sessile oak enables its treatment 

 as a pure stand easier than does the pedunculate. . . . Especially the pedunculate 

 oak is adaptable to standards in a coppice-under-standards forest. It yields, however, 

 a smaller proportion of timber when grown as coppice-under-standards than it does as 

 high forest. When grown in an open stand, it formerly furnished ribs highly valuable 

 for ship construction. These two oaks, and especially the sessile oak, possess the faculty 

 of adapting themselves to divers conditions which different methods of treatment pro- 

 pose. On the driest and thinnest soils, the sessile oak will merely grow into a bush and, 

 while both species prefer rich soil, they often give satisfactory results on soil of moderate 

 quality. 



BEECH 

 (Fagus sylvatica) 



Size. Beech is one of the most widely distributed and important of forest trees; 

 it attains great size but is smaller than oak or fir, owing to much shorter longevity. 

 It rarely lives more than from 300 to 400 years and only occasionally grows to 131 feet 

 in height with a maximum diameter of 6.5 feet. 



Habit. The straight stem is remarkably cylindrical up to a great height and the 

 bole remains clear to the crown. . . . The clear length is often 66 feet. When 

 grown in the open or under other species it branches at from 33 to 49 feet. . . . Up 

 to 10 years of age, the shoots are a dark olive-green; beyond this age, stems and branches 

 are ashy gray. 



Bark. ... The white coloring of beech bark is not natural, but results from 

 numerous lichens (Verrucaris Beformis et Epidermis; graphis scripta; Opegraphia 

 varia, etc.) which coat its surface as early as the 10th year with their very thin thalli. 



Buds. . . . Beech buds are longer, more tapering, and more angular than 

 those of any other species; they are covered with a large number of stipulate scales 

 that are brown, dry, hairless, and shiny. . . . 



The strongest buds produce normal shoots, the internodes of which are well de- 

 veloped; but there are many less vigorous ones . . . which only give rise to short- 

 ened shoots, the leaves of which are not numerous, almost fasciculated, lack buds at 

 the apex, and produce a single terminal bud. Resulting boughs ... do not ramify, 

 lengthen with extreme slowness, and contribute, on account of their great number, to 

 increase the beech's foliage and cover. After 15 to 20 years boughs of this kind attain 

 at most 4j to 6 inches in length with a diameter of from 0.16 to 0.2 inches. 



A few of the weakest produce neither shoots nor leaves. . . . 



Tolerance. Beech requires shelter during youth and cannot endure protracted 

 exposure to the sun; it is very sensitive to spring frosts on account of its tendency to 

 early growth. . . . 



Foliage. The consequence is that its crown is dense and foliage heavy. 



Aspect. It prefers north and northwest exposures. 



Reproduction. ... Sprouts come more frequently from adventitious buds 



