IN THE BEECHWOODS 133 
natural and most agreeable Canopy all the Summer ; 
being gather’d about the fall, and somewhat before 
they are much /frost-bitten, afford the best and 
easiest mattresses in the world to lay under our 
guilts instead of straw; because, besides their 
tenderness and loose lying together, they continue 
sweet for seven or eight years long; before which 
time straw becomes musty, and hard. They are 
thus used by divers persons of Quality in Dauphine, 
and in Switzerland I have sometimes lain on them 
to my great refreshment.’ Throughout France 
and Germany beech is still the principal fuel used 
for domestic purposes, as its heating power sur- 
passes that of almost any of our other woods. 
The beech grows well on most kinds of soil 
that are of a fresh and light description, or on 
sandy soils resting on a subsoil of a loamy or 
marly nature; but its finest growth is attained 
on a limy soil. The chalks and marls of the 
ridges and spurs of the limestone hills forming 
the backbone of the southern counties of Eng- 
land still retain in many parts the remnants of 
their original covering of beechwoods; and though 
good returns are being obtained from such lands, 
there can be little doubt that the closer applica- 
