STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



The beech is not so graceful as the elm, nor 

 so lofty as the pine, nor so stalwart as the oak, 

 but there is not a tree in the woods so distinctly 

 lovable. In every detail the beech has a dainty, 

 lady-like beauty, and among the leafless trees 

 of the winter woods it is as fair as a flower, with 

 its clean gray bole, its polished brown stems, 

 and its slender, pointed, lance-like buds. There 

 is no other tree with which the beech may be 

 confused, and its characteristics are so pro- 

 nounced and unvarying that there is little diffi- 

 culty in recognizing it immediately in passing. 

 When it has grown up partly shaded by other 

 trees it has a lofty bearing, but when it has de- 

 veloped in open ground it is round-headed and 

 spreading in shape. The beech trees from 

 which the following photograph was taken were 

 once shaded by other trees, and show this in the 

 height they have attained and the absence of 

 spreading, lateral branches. 



The wood is hard, strong, and very close- 

 grained and is used for making chairs, shoe 

 lasts, the handles of tools, and for fuel. In old 

 trees where the heartwood predominates the 

 wood is red, and in younger trees where the 

 sapwood is more conspicuous the wood is 

 white, and these differences in color gave rise 

 to the popular belief among woodcutters that 

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