LXX. CORYLA‘CEH: FA‘GUS. 907 
¥ F.s. 8 americana. F. sylvéstris Michx. N. 
Amer, Syl. t. 107. ; white Beech, Amer. 
(Our jig. 1695.) — Generally considered 
by botanists as identical with the common 
European beech. In North America, it 
forms one of the tallest and most majestic 
trees of the forest, abounding in the middle, 
western, und southern states, in deep 
moist soil, and in a cool atmosphere. The 
trunks of the trees are frequently 8 ft., 9ft., SS 
and 11 ft. in circumference, and more than 
100 ft. high. The tree is less branchy than 
F. ferruginea, or red beech of America ; 
and the perfect wood bears but a small 
proportion to the sap, frequently occupying 1695. F. s. americana. 
only 3in. in a trunk 1 ft. 6 in. in diameter. 
The European beech is a handsome umbrageous tree, combining magni- 
ficence with beauty ; and being, as Mathews observes, at once the Hercules 
and Adonis of our sylva, The roots do not descend deeply into the soil, 
but extend to a considerable distance close under the surface. The rootlets 
and fibres are not nearly so numerous as in the ash and the elm. The plants, 
under nursery culture, do not grow so rapidly as those of the ash and the 
elm; but, under favourable circumstances, they will attain the height of 
10 ft. in 5 years, and 20 or 25 feet in 10 years. In general, the tree attains its 
full growth, ia England, in 60 or 80 years, when it is fit to be cut down for 
timber purposes ; and, on good soils, it is more than doubtful whether it will 
live much more than 100 or 150 years. The wood, which, when green, is 
harder than that of any of our British timber trees, weighs, when in this 
state, 65 lb. 13 oz. per cubic foot ; half-dry, it weighs 56 lb. 6 oz. ; and quite 
dry, 50\lb.30z. The wood, when the tree has grown in good soil, and on 
plains, has a somewhat reddish tinge; but in poor soils, and on mountains, it 
is whitish. The durability of the wood is said to be increased by steeping 
it in water ; and, according to some, by disbarking the tree while standing. 
In England, at the present time, the beech is principally employed in making 
bedsteads and chairs ; and it is also in great demand for panels for carriages, and 
for various purposes in joinery, cabinet-making, and turnery. Screws, wooden 
shovels, peels for bakers’ ovens, and rims for sieves, are also made of it, and 
in France sabots. As fuel, the wood of the beeclr is superior to that of most 
other trees, and the green wood is generally preferred to that which is dry, be- 
cause it burns slower, though it does not give out so much heat ; and hence, 
in many places in France, the tree is frequently cut down in the summer 
season. The beech, burnt green, produces heat and light relatively to the 
beech burnt dry, as 1181 is to 1540. For useful plantations, the beech is not 
highly prized ; the tree not being of much value when young, nor forming a 
permanent coppice wood, and the bark being of little value. Beech of small 
size, or of short and crooked stem, is the least valuable of all timber. On dry 
chalky soils, it may be planted as a timber tree ; but here, as in many other 
cases where a straight clean trunk is wanted, the plants require to be drawn 
up, either by other trees of their own species, or by trees of a different species, 
which advance at nearly the same rate of growth ; such, for example, as the 
sweet chestnut. The beech succeeds best in plantations by itself; and, 
perhaps, there is no membranaceous-leaved tree which, in a wild state in 
forests, is found su little intermixed with other species. It is one of the 
worst of all trees for hedgerows, not only injuring the fence and the adjoining 
crops by the density of its shade, but its trunk, when grown in this situation, 
being neither long, clean, nor straight, is of little value except for fuel. As 
undergrowth, the beech is not of long duration, seldom pushing from the 
stools after 40 or 50 years. For hedgerows for shelter, and especially for 
those lofty narrow hedges which were formerly much in use for enclosing and 
