626 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



Maine to Florida, and west to Arkansas. Considerable areas are often 

 occupied by little else. This is attested by the frequency with which 

 such names as "beech flat," "beech ridge," "beech woods," and "beech 

 bottom" are encountered in local geography. Perhaps the finest 

 examplesof beech growth in the United States occur in thehigher altitudes 

 of the lower Appalachian range in eastern Tennessee, and western 

 North Carolina, where trees are frequently encountered, showing a bole 

 of perfectly symmetrical form, of from three to more than four feet in 

 diameter, and of a sheer height of seventy feet before a limb is en- 

 countered. The wood which grows in this section is nearly as hard as 

 that of the North, but that growing on lower levels in the South is of a 

 much softer texture and lighter color, the heart being pinkish rather than 

 reddish-brown. 



Beech is one of the truly beautiful trees of the forest. In the eyes 

 of many, the beech is as much to be admired as the American elm or 

 sugar maple. Certainly in spring when it. is covered with its staminate 

 blossoms, it is a splendid sight, and its perfect leaves are seldom spotted 

 or eaten by insects. In winter, it is particularly interesting. Its 

 beautiful bark then appears very bright. After its fine leaves have fallen, 

 though many of them, pale and dry, cling to the branches throughout the 

 winter, the structure of its massive head is seen to advantage. In the 

 Canadian markets and those of many of the middle and western states, 

 its nuts are gathered and sold in considerable quantities. These nuts 

 are favorite food of both the red and gray squirrel and these rodents 

 collect them in considerable quantities during the late fall, and store 

 them in tree hollows for their winter's supply of food. It often happens, 

 in felling beech trees in the winter, that shelled beech nuts to the 

 quantity of a quart or more will be found secreted in some hollow by 

 these provident little animals. 



Formerly beech was little used for lumber, but was long ago given 

 an important place as firewood and material for charcoal. Its excellent 

 qualities as lumber have now made it popular in most markets. The 

 sapwood is comparatively thin and the heart is very much esteemed for 

 many purposes. Many millions of feet of it are converted into flooring 

 and the "pure red" product is very highly esteemed for ornamental 

 floors. It has not as good working qualities as maple, but still it stays 

 in place even better than does that famous flooring material. Nearly 

 all the large flooring factories of the North, whose principal output is 

 maple, have a side line of beech flooring, and in the South, notably in 

 Nashville, a considerable quantity of the wood is made into flooring. 

 In full growth this beautiful tree is round topped, with wide spreading 

 and horizontal branches, and shows a normal altitude of about sixty 



