1968 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



rather almost impossible, to be represented by the artist, are accidents which 

 are productive of very pleasing ideas in the mind of the feeling observer of 

 nature. * They make spreading trees and noble shades,' says old Evelyn, 

 * with their well-furnished and glittering leaves, being set at 40 ft. distance. 

 But they grow taller, and more upright, in the forests, where I have beheld 

 them, at 8 ft. and 10 ft., shoot into very long poles ; but neither so apt for 

 timber nor fuel. In the valleys, where they stand nearest in consort, they will 

 grow to a stupendous procerity, though the soil be stony and very barren ; 

 also upon the declivities, sides, and tops of hills.' We remember to have been 

 much gratified with the effect of this tree, where all other trees were absent : 

 it was in Italy, on the very summit of the Valombrosan Apennine. During our 

 progress through the scorching plains of Italy (nay, we may safely say, after 

 bidding adieu to England), we had seen nothing to resemble the green sward 

 of a British lawn. What was our agreeable surprise, then, when, on emerging 

 from the upper boundary of those forests of chestnut and other trees which 

 there cover the declivities of the mountains, we entered at last on a beautiful 

 sloping and undulating lawn, composed of shaven turf of the richest possible 

 verdure, every where surrounded by fine spreading beeches, running into the 

 open ground in irregular promontories, and receding in bays, in which the 

 velvet surface of the pasture stole gradually into the cool shade ! The whole 

 was like a scene of magic. It was like a perfect and well-kept English park ; 

 and this produced by the enchanting hand of nature, on the summit of the 

 Apennines. We selected the most pleasing spot we could find on the very 

 top ; and there, under the umbrageous cover of one of the largest trees, we eat 

 our well-earned meal, where the boundless prospect gave to our wondering 

 and delighted eyes, the view of the waters of the Mediterranean on the one side, 

 and those of the Adriatic on the other. We must confess, that we have 

 hardly ever seen a beech tree since, without its bringing to our recollection 

 the enjoyments of that most celestial day; and the reader will easily be able 

 to trace the combination of pleasing associations which made it so." (Lan- 

 der's Gilpin, vol. i. p. 101.) 



Soil and Situation. The beech will grow on dry soils, including sand, gravel, 

 and chalk, more freely than most other trees; though it is found in the 

 greatest perfection in sandy calcareous loam or in fresh sandy loam on clay or 

 rock. On both sandy and clayey soils, it sometimes becomes a tree of great 

 magnitude, as in the case of the beech at Knowle, in Kent, which grows in 

 pure sand, and which is 105 ft. high, with a head 123ft. in diameter; and the 

 avenues at Panmure, in Forfarshire, on clayey loam, where, Mr. Sang informs 

 us, there are specimens 90 ft. high, with clear trunks of upwards of 50 ft. 

 Among rocks, crags, and where there is little or no soil to be seen, and in 

 low situations by the banks of streams, Sang informs us that the beech will 

 grow to a vast and very uncommon size. It will thrive in elevated situations, 

 but is not found at so great a height as the sycamore, or even the oak. (See 

 Geography, $c. y p. 1 955.) 



Propagation and Culture. The species is universally propagated by seed, 

 and the varieties by budding, grafting, or inarching. The seeds or nuts, 

 which are commonly called mast, begin to drop from the husks in the 

 months of October and November; and this process may be accelerated 

 by shaking the tree. The nuts may then be gathered up, and dried in the 

 sun, or in an airy shed or loft; after which, they may be mixed with sand 

 that is perfectly dry, at the rate of three bushels 1 of sand to one of mast. 

 French authors direct that the sand in which the mast is kept should be 

 slightly watered once a month; which shows in a striking manner the dif- 

 ference as to dryness between the climate of France and that of England. 

 By some, the mast is spread in a thin stratum on a loft floor, without any 

 sand ; where it remains, being occasionally turned over, till the following 

 spring, and being covered with straw to exclude the frost. The mast only 

 retains its vital properties for one year; and, therefore, it must be sown, at the 

 latest, during the following spring. The common time is from the beginning 



