NOTES ON THE VARIOUS SPECIES 247 



the case of some trees, and care must be taken to 

 keep it shellacked or waxed. 



A mature beech grows so very slowly that the 

 production of callus is often quite negligible. I 

 have seen cuts in positions normally favorable to 

 callus growth where a callus of barely a quarter 

 of an inch had developed in four or five years. 

 In such old trees the filling should be put in with 

 the idea that it must be effective without the help 

 of a callus-covering over its edges. 



The beech is extremely touchy as to soil 

 changes, and especially to an increase or diminu- 

 tion of the water supply. In case a serious 

 change of that nature takes place the top of the 

 tree is likely to die back. Remedial measures 

 should at once be applied to the soil, and the af- 

 fected bra;iches or portion of the stem should be 

 removed promptly, or they may form gateways 

 for the entrance of decay into the surviving parts 

 of the tree. The cuts thus made should be 

 dressed with the greatest care. 



Some types of beech are much easier to work 

 in and prune than others. There is a pronounced 

 type in which the limbs leave the trunk at a sharp 

 upward angle, forming many bad crotches. Such 

 trees seem more subject to decay than the normal 

 type, in which the limbs leave the trunk at right 

 angles. The upright limbs persist, when they 

 die, much longer than do the horizontal limbs, 



