1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



297 



P White, red, or pitch pine, yellow 

 poplar, ashes, or oaks. 



B Beech. 



This plan requires 908 beeches and 

 302 of the other species, or a total of 

 1,210 trees, to the acre. 



Beech trees produce an abundant 

 crop of nuts every two or three years. 

 The three-cornered nuts ripen in the 

 fall and drop soon after the first severe 

 frost. If allowed to dry out, the nuts 

 become rancid and the germs die. To 

 prepare them for planting they should 

 be stratified through the winter. A 

 pit is dug and lined with mouse-proof 

 material, or a large box is placed in it. 

 Alternate layers of moist sand and 

 nuts are then laid in and covered on 

 top with a wire screen or boards. A 

 mulch of leaves or straw mixed with 

 some earth is thrown over the filled 

 pit. Before the nuts are placed in the 

 pit they should be fumigated with car- 

 bon bisulphide to kill the worms that 

 may infest them. This may be done 

 by placing them in a box, boring a 

 hole through the cover, and pouring 

 in some liquid carbon bisulphide. The 

 hole should then be immediately 

 plugged and left closed for two or 

 three days. This will completely kill 

 all insects without injuring the seed. 



In the spring, as soon as the frost 

 is out of the ground, the nuts should 

 be planted, either directly in the per- 

 manent site, in which case three or 

 four should be planted in each hole, 

 or in a seedbed, from which the seed- 

 lings should be transplanted when a 

 year old. In a seedbed the nuts, of 

 which about 80 per cent should germi- 

 nate, should be sown about 2 inches 

 apart in rows. If they have not dried 

 out during the winter, they should 

 sprout in a few days. Care should be 

 taken to keep weeds out by giving 

 frequent cultivation. After a seed 

 year young seedlings appear in large 

 numbers in beech woods and may be 

 dug up and transplanted, or they may 

 be obtained at a reasonable price from 

 nurserymen. 



ECONOMIC USES. 



Beech wood is hard, heavy, strong, 

 and stiff. It is not durable in contact 

 with the soil. It is fine grained and 

 seasons with very little checking. It 

 is used considerably in the manufac- 

 ture of carpenters' tools and ma- 

 chinery. On account of its great hard- 

 ness and stiffness it is admirably 

 adapted for flooring in machine shops 

 where rigidity is demanded, for, al- 

 though strong, it will break before it 

 bends much. For ordinary flooring it 

 is so hard that it soon becomes very 

 slippery and is, therefore, objection- 

 able. It takes a beautiful polish and 

 should be used in cabinetwork. It 

 makes an excellent fuel. 



ENEMIES. 



The beech is one of our healthiest 

 trees, being comparatively free from 

 severe injury by insects or fungi, al- 

 though many species of the latter oc- 

 cur upon it. A few common insects 

 that prey upon it are the fall webworm 

 and forest tent caterpillar, as well as 

 other caterpillars which do consider- 

 able damage to the foliage. Plant-lice 

 and scale insects are sometimes abund- 

 ant, especially upon cultivated beech. 



Whenever insects of any kind occur 

 in destructive numbers, specimens 

 should be referred to the Bureau of 

 Entomology of the Department of 

 Agriculture for determination and ad- 

 vice regarding means of control. 



Information concerning the numer- 

 ous fungi and methods for combating 

 their attacks can be obtained by ap- 

 plication to the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Letters of inquiry should always 

 be accompanied by specimens. Beech 

 drops are low annual plants parisitic 

 upon the roots of beech trees. 



Owing to the thinness of its bark, 

 the beech is very susceptible to in- 

 juries from fire, and plantations 

 should be well protected by fire lines. 



