1962 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



of M. Hartig, there are only the sycamore, the Scotch pine, and the ash, which 

 produce more heat and light in burning than the beech. It is superior to the 

 oak in this respect, in the proportion of 1540 to 1197; and its charcoal is 

 superior to that of the oak, as 1600 is to 1459. Charcoal is made in great 

 quantities from the beech, in Buckinghamshire, for the manufacture of gun- 

 powder. The beech, burnt green, produces heat and light relatively to the 

 beech burnt dry, as 1181 is to 1540. These experiments of M. Hartig are, 

 however, considered by some as not quite correct. The ashes of the beech 

 are said by Bosc to be rich in potash ; but this is doubted by Baudrillart. 

 Werneck found experimentally, that, out of 73 species of trees, there were 47, 

 the ashes of the wood of which yielded more potash than the ashes of that of 

 the beech. He found that 100 Ib. of beech wood, burnt green, gave 1 Ib. 4 oz. 

 7 grains of this salt; but that 100 Ib. of the bark and spray gave 1 Ib. 10 oz. 

 The bark, both in America and in Britain, is used for tanning, though it is con- 

 sidered of no great value for that purpose. Monteath ranks it in the fifth place, 

 along with that of the birch ; both of which, he says, are considerably weaker 

 than that of the Spanish chestnut, and not nearly equal to that of the oak. 

 Evelyn says, " Of old, they made their vasa vindemiatoria and corbes messoria?, 

 as we our pots for strawberries, with the rind of this tree. Nay," he adds, 

 " and vessels to preserve wine in ; and that curiously wrought cup, which the 

 shepherd, in the Bucol'tcks, wagers withall was engraven by Alcimedon upon 

 the bark of the beech." (Hunt. EveL, i. p. 135.) The leaves, gathered green, 

 and dried, were formerly used in Britain, and still are in various parts of the 

 Continent, for filling beds. Evelyn says that, " being gathered about the fall, 

 and somewhat before they are much frost-bitten, they afford the best and the 

 easiest mattresses in the world, to lay under our quilts, instead of straw ; be- 

 cause, besides their tenderness and loose lying together, they continue sweet for 

 seven or eight yearslong; before which time, straw becomes musty and hard: they 

 are thus used by divers persons of quality in Dauphine; and, in Switzerland, I 

 have sometimes lain on them to my very great refreshment. So as, of this tree it 

 may properly be said, ' Silva domus, cubilia frondes.' Jnv. The wood as house, 

 the leaves abed." (Ibid., i.p. 137.) "We can," says Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, 

 after quoting this passage, "from our own experience, bear testimony to the truth 

 of what Evelyn says here, as to the excellence of beech leaves for mattresses. 

 We used always to think that the most luxurious and refreshing bed was that which 

 prevails universally in Italy, and which consists of an absolute pile of mattresses 

 filled with the elastic spathe of the Indian corn ; which beds have the advantage 

 of being soft, as well as elastic ; and we have always found the sleep enjoyed on 

 them to be peculiarly sound and restorative. But the beds made of beech 

 leaves are really no whit behind them in these qualities, whilst the fragrant 

 smell of green tea, which the leaves retain, is most gratifying. The objection 

 to them is the slight crackling noise which the leaves occasion, as the indivi- 

 dual turns in bed : but this is no inconvenience at all, or, if so in any degree, 

 it is an inconvenience which is much overbalanced by the advantages of this 

 most luxuriant couch." (Laud. Gilp., \. p. 103.) As beech leaves are very 

 long in decaying, they are valuable in gardening, for protecting herbaceous 

 plants from frost, or mulching round the stems of half-hardy trees and 

 shrubs. 



The Catkins of the male Flowers, after they have dropped from the tree, 

 are, at Claremont in Surrey, and some other places where the tree abounds, 

 gathered by gardeners, dried, and laid up in a dry loft for packing fruit in, which 

 is to be sent to a distance. They are also used for stuffing pillow-cases, 

 cushions, &c. 



The Fruit y the nut of which is called beech mast in England, and la fame in 

 France, has a taste somewhat approaching to that of the hazel nut. It forms 

 an excellent food for swine ; but the flesh of those that have been fattened on 

 it does not keep so well as that of swine which have been fed on acorns. The 

 fat, also, is more oily, and, when boiled, is apt to waste in the pot. Beech mast 

 is much sought after by wild animals, particularly by badgers, which it fattens 



