THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



Beech-trees is generally dry and free from weeds and 

 is inviting to sit upon and rest. 



The crown of the Beech tree is broad and far- 

 spreading; the middle and upper branches are sharply 

 ascending, the lower spread horizontally often down- 

 ward to midway in their length but are upturned 

 at their extremities. There are famous trees, like 

 the Newbattle Beech near Dalkeith, some eight miles 

 from Edinburgh, in which the lower branches lying 

 on the ground have taken root and developed into 

 independent trees. The branches of the Beech are 

 very numerous and crowded and, having a smooth 

 bark, are particularly liable to cross and grow into 

 each other and, as it were, inosculate. Hence, ac- 

 cording to some old authorities, it was this tree that 

 first gave the idea of grafting. At its best the Com- 

 mon Beech is a magnificent tree ioo feet or more 

 tall with a trunk fully 20 feet in girth. When grow- 

 ing thickly together the trunk is straight and free 

 of branches for from 30 to 50 feet or even more, but 

 usually the unbranched trunk is not more than 20 

 feet high. On old trees, and especially on those 

 pollarded as in Epping Forest or the famous Burnham 

 Beeches, huge gnarled burrs develop on the trunk 

 and arrest attention. It is gregarious, and its 

 branches so numerous and dense that few plants will 

 grow beneath its shade. The firm, close, smooth, 

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