344 CARPINUS. 



a soil of adhesive nature, and is naturally found in cold 

 clayey districts ; it attains its greatest dimensions in stiff 

 soils of moderate quality, and never thrives upon land 

 of a dry gravelly nature or upon chalk. When propa- 

 gated in the nurseries, which is done to a very moderate 

 extent as compared with other forest-trees, it is by seed, 

 which ripens in the autumn, and ought to be gathered 

 when ready to fall to the ground. If sown immediately, 

 a portion will vegetate the following spring, the remainder 

 not till the second spring, which is also the case with 

 all the seed kept in dry sand over the winter months. 

 From the seed-beds they are transplanted into nursery- 

 rows, whence, in the course of two or three years 

 they may be removed to their permanent stations. Lop- 

 ping and pruning of the Hornbeam ought never to be 

 practised in spring, as it suffers injury from excessive 

 bleeding ; at other times it may be done without injury, 

 and no tree is more patient of the knife. It seems subject 

 to few diseases, and, from the tough and wiry nature of 

 its branches, and the firm hold it obtains of the ground 

 by its numerous and deep-descending roots, is rarely in- 

 jured by storms of wind. The insects which feed upon 

 it are not numerous, and the foliage is seldom severely 

 injured by their attacks. Amongst the lepidopterous larva?, 

 which either wholly or partially subsist upon the leaves, 

 are those of Him era pennaria, Hybernaria prosapiaria, 

 Geometra carpiniaria, Campcea margaritata, which belong 

 to the Geometridee. The larva of Tenthredo carpini also 

 feeds upon the leaves, and one of the scale insects (coccus) 

 infests the stems and branches of the trees. 



In addition to the list contained in the " Arboretum 

 Brittanicum," where several trees, measuring from fifty to 

 seventy feet high, with trunks of six or eight feet in cir- 



