8]<) NOTKS ON HIUTISH FOKKST THKKS. 



1. J3bkcii — F<i<ii(>i si/lnitira (L.). 



n. mm If. 



]3eech yields excellent firewood and very good cliarcoal. 

 The timber is not of much vahie wliere strength and durabilit}' 

 are wanted ; it is brittle and short grained. Specific gravity, 

 air dried, on an average = "74. Under water it lasts well. 

 Formerly the timber was much used in machinery, especially 

 by millwrights ; nowadays iron has replaced it for many 

 purposes. Beech M'ood is still used for furniture, in carpentr}', 

 turnery, etc., more especially for the manufacture of chairs in 

 Buckinghamshire and adjoining counties. On the Continent 

 it is much used for packing cases, barrels, wooden shoes 

 (sabots) and heels of ladies' boots. It is used also for railway 

 sleepers, after treatment with antiseptics. The leaves are 

 used for litter, the nuts as fodder for pigs and deer ; the 

 seeds yield a superior oil. The wood is rich in potash. 



//. /Ji.s/n'buliaii. 

 It is found in temperate Europe from Norway to the 

 Mediterranean, or between the 40th and GOtli degree of 

 latitude, also in Western Asia ; it is apparentl}' indigenous in 

 England, and found planted in Scotland and Ireland. It is a 

 tree of the lower mountains and plains ; going up to about 

 700 feet in Norway, 1,200 feet in Derbyshire, 4,500 feet in the 

 Alps, and over 0,000 feet on IMount Etna. 



r. LardHli/. 

 Climate. — lieecli is fairly hardy as regards wiiilcr frosL l»ut 

 very sensitive to late sprhig frosts, wliidi. during early youth, 

 frequently injure or- even kill it. It stands more shade than 

 any other indigenous broad leaved species, but somewhat less 

 than silver fir. It requires a fair amount of moisture in the air, 

 hence it grows well in the vicinity of the sea and on northern 

 and eastern aspects, while it disai)pears in the eastern part of 

 Europe owing to the drier continental climate. It is liable to 

 l)e thrown by strong winds, but not to aiiv excessive extent. 



