312 FAGUS. 



surface, every play or scintillation of light, or as it first 

 bursts from its envelopes tender in hue and delicate in 

 texture ; the smoothness as well as the light and pleasant 

 colour of its bark, which catches and produces those spark- 

 ling- lights we so oft admire in the stems of a Beechen grove, 

 are all of them strong and powerful recommendations in 

 its favour, and must always counterbalance its minor de- 

 fects, and those deficiencies which detract from its merits 

 as an artist's tree. 



But having thus endeavoured to vindicate the claim 

 of the Beech to protection and favour as an ornamental 

 tree, we are not among those who would recommend its 

 culture on an extensive scale, even in our parks and lawns, 

 a few being at all times sufficient to produce the desired 

 effect ; much less would we recommend it to be planted 

 with a view to profit* in mixed plantations, particularly 

 where it is not intended to form the ultimate crop, as 

 from its spreading growth it is a dangerous neighbour 

 to all others in its vicinity, particularly to the oak, and 

 its value in a young state, or before it acquires a tolerable 

 scantling, is so trifling as not to repay for its occupancy. 

 Again, as a single or as a hedge-row tree it is one of the 

 worst we can plant, for, as Matthew observes, "it is the 

 most valueless of all timber when of small size, or when 

 it is of short or crooked stem," which is almost invariably 

 the case when grown singly or in hedge-rows ; and it is 

 also in the latter situation, from its dense and widely-ex- 

 tended shade, and the deleterious nature of its drip, more 

 injurious to the herbage beneath than any other tree : 



* In Northumberland, about fifty or sixty years ago, the Beech was exten- 

 sively planted, as at that time its timber was used almost exclusively for making 

 the train or wagon ways, belonging to the collieries. The introduction of iron 

 rails has, however, done away with its use, and the Beechen woods are now almost 

 valueless to their proprietors. 



