THE BEECH 



"Mottled trunk and shining leaves, 

 Mossy limb and lichened bark, 

 Where light's flying shuttle weaves 



Golden threads in warp of dark, 

 Still the pleasant beech tree stands, 



Like a gentle, genial host 

 Welcoming with gracious hands 

 Bird or squirrel, man or ghost." 



r—B. F. Parker. 



Since earliest time the beech tree has been 

 lauded in song and story. The ancients be- 

 lieved that ill-luck would overtake the man who 

 used its wood for fuel. The old Greeks consid- 

 ered the tree a symbol of prosperity. Certainly 

 it would be diflBcult to find a more noble type, 

 with its great round dome and its perfect leaves 

 unmarred by insect blotch or blight. Perhaps 

 you may have noticed the young beeches in win- 

 ter. They are the aristocrats of the forest. 

 There is an air of quiet elegance in their 

 smooth, close-fitting gray suits, with their dark 



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