330 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
such testimony must be taken to be of little value 
if it be remembered that Cesar could have seen 
but a small portion of our island, which at the 
time of the Roman invasion was densely wooded ; 
and that even had he gone far inland he could not 
easily have assured himself of the absolute truth 
of his statement. Those who know how some- 
times for centuries plants and shrubs escape the 
search of the most enterprising of botanists, will 
not give much heed to the result of Ceesar’s hasty 
survey. 
From its preference for a chalk soil this mag- 
nificent inhabitant of our woodlands is found in 
ereatest abundance and perfection in the chalk 
districts of England. The charming wood called 
Mark Ash in the New Forest contains some of 
the most beautiful forms of Beech to be found 
anywhere in Britain; one noble Tree in that 
wood having a girth near the ground of more 
than twenty-four feet. But the grounds of New- 
battle Abbey, near Edinburgh, produce a Beech of 
nobler dimensions, for it is considered to be the 
largest Tree of its kind not only in England but 
in Kurope. It is a hundred feet in height, covers 
