﻿2 BULLETIN 12, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



BEECH. 



(Fagus atropunicea.) 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.i 



Weight of dry wood. — 44.71 pounds per cubic foot of dry wood (Sargent). 



Specific gravity.— 0.6S83 (Sargent). 



Ash. — 0.51 per cent of weight of dry wood (Sargent). 



Fuel value. — 92 per cent that of white oak (Sargent). 



Breaking strength (modulus of rupture). — 16,100 pounds per square inch, or 

 12S per cent that of white oak ( Sargent ) . 



Factor of stiffness (modulus of elasticity). — 1,697,800 pounds per square 

 inch, pr 128 per cent that of white oak (Sargent). 



Very hard, tough, strong, not durable in contact with the soil ; difficult to 

 season; checks in drying; takes beautiful polish; medullary rays broad and 

 very conspicuous; color varies with soil, but is usually dark red; sapwood 

 nearly white. 



Height, 75 to 100 feet ; diameter, 1 to 4 feet. 



SUPPLY. 



Only one species of beech (Fagus atropunicea) grows naturally 

 in the United States, but it is known by different names. Red beech 

 and white beech refer, respectively, to the heartwood and sapwood of 

 this tree, the contrast between the two being marked. The name 

 ridge beech should be regarded as local, for the tree is not confined to 

 ridges more than to bottom lands. The tree known as blue beech or 

 water beech belongs to a different genus (Carpinus caroUniana) ; and 

 the purple-leaved, rjendulous-branched species frequently seen in 

 parks and cemeteries is not a native of this country, but is the 

 European beech (Fagus sylvatica) . 



Few trees in this country have a wider commercial range than 

 beech, and in practically every locality where it grows it is cut for 

 market. It ranges from the Gulf of Mexico into eastern Canada, and 

 is found in most regions east of a line drawn from northern Wis- 

 consin to Trinity River, Texas. In 1909 it was cut for lumber in 29 

 States, and the total output was 511,240,000 board feet, an increase 

 of nearly 90,000,000 feet since 1907. The total remaining stand in 

 the United States has been roughly estimated at from 17 to 20 bil- 

 lion feet, but from the nature of its distribution anything better than 

 a general approximation is impossible. It occasionally forms pure 

 stands, but it is also widely scattered among other species over an 

 immense region. It was once much more abundant than it now is, 

 for in practically all the forested regions of the eastern half of the 

 United States, where farms have been cleared, beech was destroyed 



1 The physical values given for the different woods discussed in this bulletin are largely 

 those of Sargent, and in many cases do not agree with values for similar properties ob- 

 tained in tests by the Forest Service. Since the Forest Service tests are not yet complete, 

 however, Sargent's data are given in order that a general comparison may be made be- 

 tween the different woods. Engineers and others wishing to obtain accurate values for the 

 mechanical properties will, of course, not use this bulletin for that purpose. 



