212 A SUNLESS SUMMER 



Chilian herbs and shrubs, take most kindly to our cool 

 loams and cloudy skies. 



The latest importation of importance from Chile is 

 a forest tree, which Mr. H. J. Elwes, who collected the 

 seeds some years ago, describes as attaining a great 

 stature and being of commercial value. It is a beech 

 (Fagus obliqud), and has proved perfectly hardy, at 

 least on the west coast of Scotland, during the trying 

 winter of 1906-7. 1 As a young tree, the growth is 

 most graceful, the foliage being smaller and more 

 delicate than that of the European beech, and the 

 young sprays being of an agreeable ruddy tint. 

 Whether the timber produced in this country will 

 prove equal in quality to that in the natural forests 

 of the Andes remains for a future generation to 

 decide; but at all events, this beech is a noteworthy 

 addition to our list of ornamental trees. 



1 It has taken no harm in the two winters following, and is growing 

 strongly (July 1909). 



