228 The Beeches and the Birches. 



the difference in color of the heart-wood ; but they appear to be 

 simply varieties of the same species, from differences in the soil or 

 exposure. The red beech is much more durable, and under water 

 it appears almost indestructible. It has also been found durable in 

 plank-roads, and in ship-building where permanently under water, 

 and for this reason it is sometimes used for the keels of vessels. 



902. The beech of Victoria and Tasmania (Fagus Cnnningh^mi) 

 is a magnificent evergreen of colossal size, and living only in cool, 

 damp, rich forest valleys where it not unfrequently grows to the 

 height of two hundred feet. The wood, much used by carpenters 

 and others, is known to the trade as " myrtle." 



903. Other evergreen beeches of fine size and much value, (F. 

 Memiesii), known as the " red birch ;" F.fusca, the " black birch ;" 

 F. Solandri, the " white birch," of colonists) are found in New Zea- 

 land. It is not improbable that some of these might succeed un- 

 der similar conditions, especially in Southern California, where so 

 many Australian species have been found to thrive. 



THE BIRCH (Genus Betula). 



904. About twenty-five species of the birch are known in Europe, 

 Asia, and North America, and they are divided into some sixty sub- 

 species or characteristic varieties. They prefer a cool, humid cli- 

 mate, some growing upon mountains of considerable elevation, and 

 others preferring swampy grounds and river banks. 



905. The birch extends about as far into the Arctic zone as woody 

 plants of any kind will grow. In the remote part of the Highlands 

 of Scotland, it forms coppices on rocky elevations where no other 

 ligneous plant is found, and throughout Northern Europe it forms 

 an important article for fuel. 



906. It shows a tendency to succeed the pines where they have 

 been cut off, and is readily propagated from seed, but does best on 

 new ground, and can hardly be made to grow where nursery trees 

 have previously been raised. The seeds scarcely admit of any cov- 

 ering, and if simply pressed into the ground with the feet they will 

 grow. A bushel of seed will stock thirty linear yards of a seed- 

 bed four feet wide. When a year old, they may be transplanted to 

 nursery rows, and when two or three feet high may be set for per- 

 manence. 



907. Cut-leaved, weeping, and other varieties have been intro- 

 duced for ornamental planting, and are perpetuated by grafting. 



