DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES, 123 



" Thrice twenty summers I have seen 

 The sky grow bright, the forest green ; 

 And many a wintry wind have stood 

 In blooniless, fruitless solitude, 

 Since childhood in my pleasant bower 

 First spent its sweet and sportive hour ; 

 Since youthful lovers in my shade, 

 Their vows of youth and rapture made, 

 And on my trunk's surviving frame. 

 Carved many a long forgotten name. 

 Oh ! by the sighs of gentle sound 

 First breathed upon this sacred ground, 

 By all that love has whispered there", 

 Or beauty heard with ravished ear ; 

 As love's own altar, honour me — 

 Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree!" 



The beech is quite handsome when young, but when large 

 it has too much heaviness to be agreeable for a park tree. 

 From this very quality, however, it is excellently adapted to 

 mingle with other trees when a thick an impenetrable mass 

 of foliage is desired : and, on account of its density, it is also 

 well suited to shut out unsightly buildings, or other objects. 



The leaves of many beech trees hang on the tree, in a dry 

 and withered state, during the whole winter. This is chiefly 

 the case with young trees ; but we consider it as greatly di- 

 minishing its beauty at that season, as the tree is otherwise 

 very pleasing to the eye, with its smooth, round, gray stem, 

 and small twisted spray. A deciduous tree, we think, should 

 as certainly drop its leaves at the approach of cold weather, 

 as an evergreen should retain them ; more especially if its 

 leaves have a dead and withered appearance, as is the case 

 with those of the beech in this climate. 



The White beech, (Fagus sylvatica.) is the common 

 beech tree of the middle and western states. It is found in 

 the greatest perfection in a cool situation, and a moist soil. 



