THE HORNBEAM. 



435 



millions of bushels of these nuts; and in 1779 

 the forest of Compaigne alone afforded oil suffi- 

 cient to supply the wants of the district for more 

 than half a century. The nuts are collected 

 in dry weather as they fall from the trees, which, 

 to facilitate this, axe shaken by the peasants: the 

 oil is abundant only when the fruit is perfectly 

 ripe. Being thus collected and cleansed by win- 

 nowing or in mills, they are spread out on floors 

 like corn, and frequently turned till they are 

 dry. In the winter months they are gTound 

 down and formed into a paste; and afterwards 

 this paste is subjected to strong pressure in wool 

 or hair bags, when the oil oozes out and is col- 

 lected; this process is repeated a second or third 

 time, tin all the oil is extracted, By care and 

 skill the quantity of oil thus obtained is equal 

 to one-sixth of the nuts employed. The oil 

 becomes limpid by repeatedly drawing it ofiF the 

 dregs, and at the end of six months arrives at 

 perfection. It will last good for ten years or 

 upwards. 



The Hornbeam (carpinus betulusj. Natural 

 family amentacem; moncecia, potyandria of Lin- 

 naeus. This is sometimes called the horse bfeech, 

 from its resemblance to the common beech. It 

 is common in England, but is rarely allowed to 

 grow to its full height, being polled by the 

 country people. According to Miller, however, 

 the tree reaches seventy feet in height, with a 

 large round stem, perfectly straight and sound 

 when growing on a stiff clay, which appears to 

 be its natural soil. As this tree then thrives on 

 cold, barren, and exposed hills, and in situations 

 where few other trees wiU vegetate, it may be 

 cultivated with advantage in such situations. 

 It is by no means of slow growth, and resists 

 the violence of winds better than most other 

 trees; and is thus well adapted as a means of 

 shelter. It should be raised from seeds planted 

 in the spot where it is intended to grow; and 

 these seeds may be sown in autumn, when they 

 wiU spring up the following spring. Like the 

 beech, the leaves of the hornbeam remain on the 

 branches till the young buds push them off in 

 spring. 



The wood is not much esteemed except for 

 fuel. Hedges are constructed of the hornbeam 

 similar to those formed of the beech. They are 

 very common in some parts of Germany. 



The American Hornbeam (c. Americana J, is 

 common in the States, and in the warmer parts 

 of Canada. The trunk, like that of the Euro- 

 pean species, is obliquely and irregularly fluted, 

 frequently through all its length. The bark is, 

 smooth and spotted with white. The fertile 

 flowers are collected in long, pendulous, leafy 

 aments, at the extremity of the branches; and 

 the scales or leaves which surround them con- 

 tain at the base a hard oval seed. The fructifi- 

 cation is always abundant, and the aments remain 



attached to the tree long after the foliage is shed. 

 The wood is white and exceedingly compact, 

 and fine grained; but as the timber attains a very 

 limited size, it is fit for no useful purpose. 



Iron Wood (carpinus ostrya). This tree 

 belongs to the same natural family and order as 

 the above. It is a native of North America, and 

 grows not in groups, but loosely disseminated 

 in cool, fertile, and shaded situations. The leaves 

 are alternate, oval, acuminate, and finely and 

 unequally serrated. The fertile and barren 

 flowers are home at the extremity of different 

 branches of the same tree; and the fruit is in 

 clusters like hops, hence the name ostrya. The 

 small hard triangular seed is contained in a spe- 

 cies of reddish, oval, inflated bladder, covered at 

 the age of maturity with a fine down, which 

 causes a violent irritation of the skin if care- 

 lessly handled. In the winter this tree is recog- 

 nised by a smooth grayish bark finely divided 

 and detached in stripes, not more than a line in 

 breadth. The wood is perfectly white, compact, 

 fine grained, and heavy. The concentric circles 

 are closely compressed, and their number in a 

 trunk of only four or five inches in diameter, 

 evinces the slow growth of the tree. 



The wood is so hard as to be used in place of 

 iron levers for splitting trees. In New York 

 brooms and scrubbing brushes are made of it, by 

 shredding the end of a stick of suitable dimen- 

 sions. If the wood could be procured of larger 

 size, it no doubt might be applied to many use- 

 ful purposes. 



This tree has been transplanted to France, 

 where it flourishes; and it probably might be 

 propagated with advantage in other parts of 

 Europe. 



The Ash (frascinus excelsior) . Natural familj' 

 aleinece; polygamia, dicecia of Linnaeus. The 

 ash is indigenous to Britain, and is a well known 

 tree. The stem is covered with a smooth bark, 

 and grows tall and rather slender. The branches 

 are flattened; the leaves have five pairs of lobes, 

 terminated by an odd one of a dark green colour; 

 lanceolate, with serrated edges. The flowers are 

 produced in loose spikes from the sides of the 

 branches, and are succeeded by flat seeds which 

 ripen in autumn. In its period of leafing the 

 ash is very late, being generally towards the end 

 of April, or middle of May. It is also among 

 the first to shed its leaves on the first approaches 

 of the autumnal frosts. The varieties of this 

 species are the weeping ash (pendula), first dis- 

 covered in a field at Gamblingay, Cambridge- 

 shire. The yellow barked, (jaspidea); the green 

 colcmred, (atrovirens). It has been known fi-om 

 the remotest period of history, and it is very 

 generally diffused. It agrees with a greater var- 

 iety of soil and situation than perhaps anj'' other 

 tree producing timber of equal value; and, dif- 

 fering from many other trees, its value is in- 



