THE HORNBEAM. 299 
apt to become tall and bare near the surface, which renders 
them unfit for hedge plants, until they are made bushy by 
being cut down near to the ground. The plant being hardy, 
and almost exempt from disease, its nursery treatment is very 
simple, it being required only to allow the plants sufficient 
room to keep them shapely, and to keep them free of weeds. 
The wood of hornbeam is white, tough, and durable, adapted 
for handles and stocks for tools, yokes for cattle, milk vessels, 
wheelwright work, and other kinds of rural carpentry. Evelyn 
states that for milk vessels it excels either yew or crab; and 
Linneus observes that it is harder than hawthorn, and capable 
of supporting great weights. Loudon records a piece of it; 
two inches square and seven feet eight inches long, having 
supported 228 lbs., while a similar beam of ash broke under 
200 Ibs.; one of birch, under 190 Ibs.; of oak, under 185 lbs.; 
of beech, under 165 lbs.; and of other woods at a less weight; 
and yet, notwithstanding its powers of resistance, the horn- 
beam has very little flexibility, it having, before it broke, bent 
only 10°, while ash bent 21°, the birch 19°, and the oak 12°. 
The timber is not in ordinary demand ; and where it is to 
be met with it usually sells at the same rate as the beech. 
As firewood, it is placed in the highest rank for heat, bright- 
ness, and durability ; its charcoal is esteemed for its use in 
cooking, in forges, and in the manufacture of gunpowder. Of 
the common species, the incised-leaved and the variegated are 
the chief varieties. The other species, namely, C. Americana 
and C. Orientalis, being of small growth, are not cultivated as 
timber trees. 
