60 TH^ new method 



would be. The wood is used for plane stocks, chair- 

 posts, saw-handles, and sometimes for shoe-lasts. 

 The bark is light and dark gray on the outside, but 

 golden-brown on the inside. It is very brittle, rather 

 smooth and quite thin. There are very small black 

 dots on it, and there are no fibers. 



" The leaf varies in length from about three to five 

 inches and is net-veined and feather-veined. It is of 

 an ovate shape, with an accuminate apex. The mid- 

 vein is covered with very fine hairs, which can be 

 seen more plainly on the under side than on the 

 upper. On the under side the veins are raised from 

 the leaf. The margin is coarsely serrate, and there 

 is a notch at the end of every veinlet. The margin 

 is fringed with very fine hairs that can be seen very 

 plainly. The stem, or petiole, is very short and 

 crooked. The upper side of the leaf is much darker 

 than the under side, and much smoother. In the 

 spring, and especially when the leaf is unfolding, the 

 under side is covered all over with hairs, and looks 

 very pretty. The bud that contains the leaf forms 

 in the autumn and remains on the tree all winter 

 until they unfold in the spring. The leaves turn 

 yellow and brown late in the autumn, but, unlike 

 those of some other kinds of trees, they remain on 

 until killed by frost, late in the winter. The seed of 

 the beech tree is the beechnut, which is held and fas- 



