THE BEECH. 



317 



difficulty in discovering the propriety of grafting 

 the Beech on the Chestnut, the oily though 

 smaller nut of the former being considered by 

 the ancients much more valuable than the fari- 

 naceous nut of the latter. 



On the whole, therefore the readiest solution 

 of the difficulty is, that C^sar did not penetrate 

 into any part of the island where Beeches w^ere 

 abundant, and that the woods, to which he tells 

 us that the Britons retired to escape from their 

 invaders, were composed of trees which admitted 

 a more luxuriant growth of underwood than this 

 unsociable tree ever allow^s. 



Loudon states that it is a native of the tempe- 

 rate parts of Europe, from the south of Norway 

 to the Mediterranean Sea, and from England to 

 Constantinople. It is also found in Palestine, 

 Asia Minor and other parts of Asia. In Swit- 

 zerland it occupies the south sides of the moun- 

 tains which have their north sides clothed with 

 the Silver Fir. In England it grows most luxuri- 

 antly and in the greatest abundance in the chalk 

 districts, forming extensive forests of great mag- 

 nificence and beauty. It is not indigenous to 

 Scotland or Ireland. It is the national tree of 

 Denmark, and in the neighbourhood of Elsinore 

 flourishes in superlative vigour. 



In North America, a species very similar to 

 the Beech of Europe forms extensive woods in 

 the middle and western states. In South Ame- 

 rica its place is supplied by other species, Fagus 

 hetulo'ides and F, antarctica^ though only in the 

 extreme south. In Tierra del Fuego, the former 

 frequently measures as much as thirteen feet in 

 circumference. Captain King mentions one which 



