BEECH. 



BEECH. 



about the middle of September, when they are 

 ripe, and begin to fall, and spread out on a 

 mat in an airy place for a week to dry, when 

 they may be sown. It is, however, recom- 

 mended to keep them dry in sand until the 

 spring, as there is less danger of their being 

 then destroyed by field mice and other vermin. 

 These nuts do not require to be covered more 

 than an inch deep in mould, and it will be ob- 

 served that only a part of them germinates the 

 first year. Two or three bushels of seed are 

 sufficient for an acre, to be sown mixed with 

 sand, in the same manner as the ash. 



The flowers of this tree come forth in May, 

 and its kernels ripen in September. The Ro- 

 mans used beech leaves and honey to restore 

 the growth of hair which had fallen off; but 

 the moderns have not found it efficacious. 



The nuts or seed of this tree, termed beech 

 mast, are the food of hogs, and of various small 

 quadrupeds. They are often called buck-mast 

 in England, from the eagerness with which 

 deer feed on them. 



An oil, nearly equal in flavour to the best 

 olive oil, with the advantage of keeping longer 

 without becoming rancid, may be obtained 

 from the nuts by pressure. It is very common 

 in Picardy, and other parts of France, where 

 the mast abounds; in Silesia it is used by the 

 country people instead of butter. And in the 

 reign of George I. we find a petition was pre- 

 sented, praying letters patent for making but- 

 ter from beech nuts. 



The cakes which remain from the pressure, 

 after the oil is made, are given to fatten swine, 

 oxen, or poultry. A bushel of mast is said to 

 produce a gallon of clean oil ; but the beech 

 tree seldom produces a full crop of mast 

 oftener than once in three years. This nut is 

 palatable to the taste, but when eaten in great 

 quantities occasions headache and giddiness ; 

 nevertheless, when dried and ground into meal, 

 it makes a wholesome bread. Like acorns, 

 the fruit of the beech was long the food of 

 mankind before the use of corn. Roasted, the 

 mast has been found a tolerable substitute for 

 coffee. (Philltps's Hist, of Fruits, p. 56; 

 M' Culloctis Cum. Did, ; Baxter's Agr. Li- 

 brary , Brande's Diet, of Science.) 



In North America, as in Europe, the beech 

 is one of the common trees of the forest. Two 

 distinct species are found in the Northern 

 States, which have been often treated by bota- 

 nists as varieties. Michaux, who makes this 

 distinction, calls one the white beech, (Fagus 

 syhestris), and the other the red beech (Fagus 

 ferrtiginea), both the popular names being de- 

 rived from the colour of the wood. In the 

 Middle Western, and Southern States the red 

 beech does not exist, or is very rare. A deep 

 moist soil and a cool atmosphere are necessary 

 to the utmost expansion of the white beech. In 

 the Middle States, east of the mountains, it is 

 insulated in the forests, whilst in the Northern 

 parts of Pennsylvania, the Genessee district 

 in New York, and in the states of Kentucky 

 and Tennessee, it composes large masses of 

 the primitive forests. The soils on which the 

 beech mostly abounds have generally a stra- 

 tum of clay or gravel, termed hard-pan, which 

 prevents any roots from descending. This 

 158 



, forces the trees to obtain their subsistence from 

 i the upper soil, and the roots spread around the 

 ! trees to a distance sometimes of a hundred 

 | feet or more, and so numerous withal as to be 

 j greatly in the way of the settler when he first 

 clears his grounds. But he has the satisfaction 

 of knowing that they soon rot away and yield 

 to his plough. The white beech is more slen- 

 der and less branchy than the red beech ; but 

 its foliage is superb, the green being of the 

 most agreeable shade, and its general appear- 

 ance very beautiful. On the banks of the Ohio 

 and in some parts of Kentucky, where the oak 

 is too rare to furnish enough bark for tanning, 

 the deficiency is supplied by that of the white 

 beech. The leather made with this is white 

 and serviceable, though avowedly inferior to 

 what is prepared with the bark of the oak. 



The red beech bears a greater resemblance 

 to that of Europe than the white species. It 

 equals the white beech in thickness, but not in 

 height, has a more massive and spreading 

 summit, and more tufted foliage. The leaves 

 are very similar, but those of the white beech 

 are not quite so thick and large, with rather 

 shorter teeth. To these differences must be 

 added a more important one in the wood. The 

 red beech 15 or 18 inches in diameter consists 

 of 3 or 4 inches of white wood and 13 or 14 

 inches of red wood or heart, the inverse of 

 which proportion is found in the white beech. 

 The wood of the red beech is stronger, tougher, 

 and more compact. In the state of Maine and 

 in the British Provinces where oaks are rare, 

 it is employed with the sugar maple and yel 

 low birch for the lower part of the frame of 

 vessels. As it is extremely liable to injury 

 from worms, and speedily decays when ex- 

 posed to alternate dryness and moisture, it is 

 rarely used in the construction of houses. In 

 the state of Maine the hickory is rare, and the 

 white oak does not exist, and when the yellow 

 birch and black ash cannot be procured in 

 sufficient abundance the red beech is selected 

 for hoops. 



Experience has demonstrated the advantage 

 of felling the beech in the summer, whilst the 

 sap is in full circulation. Cut at this season 

 it is very durable, but felled in winter, it de- 

 cays in a few years. The logs are left several 

 months in the shade before they are hewn, care 

 being taken that they do not repose immedi- 

 ately upon the ground. Afte^r this they are 

 hewn and laid in water for three months, 

 which process, it is said, renders them inac- 

 cessible to worms. 



The beech is very durable when preserved 

 from moisture, and incorruptible when con- 

 stantly in the water ; but the white or exterior 

 portion of the wood decays rapidly when ex- 

 posed to alternations of dryness and dampness. 

 The interior red wood, or heart, as it is usually 

 called, is very durable. In the northern por- 

 tion of the United States, the red beech consti 

 tutes a large proportion of the fuel consumed, 

 and, as in Europe, the wood of the beech sub- 

 serves a great variety of useful purposes. 



The ashes of both species of beech yield a 

 very large proportion of potash. 



Michaux, who describes the process of ex 

 tracting the oil, says that it equals one-sixth 



