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THE planter's GUIDE. 



France, the Spruce Fir or tbe Beech {neque Fagum neque 

 Ahietem.) Ray thinks that the Fag us of the Romans is 

 not the same as the (pijyos of the Greeks, which was a kind 

 of Oak. Yet as there is no other way of accounting for 

 the assertion of so accurate an observer as Caesar, some 

 scholars have supposed, and not without reason, that the 

 Fagus of Csesar, Virgil, and Vitruyius, is a species of Oak, 

 and not the Beech. At all events, our Beech is the o^m 

 of the Greeks, as we learn from the French traveller 

 Belon; and that it is still called by that name on Mount 

 Athos.'" 



The Beech may be justly esteemed inferior only to the 

 Oak and the Ash in point of utility ; as, considering the 

 variety of purposes to which it is applied, it equals or 

 perhaps exceeds the Elm. It is almost as necessary to 

 turners, carpenters, and cabinet-makers, as the Oak is to 

 ship-builders, or the Ash to plough and cart-wrights. In 

 various branches of machinery and manufactures its use- 

 fulness is well known, particularly in wheel, cooper, and 

 mill work ; and nearly as good as the Elm for the keels, 

 stems, and stern-posts of the largest ships. The grain is 

 of a fine texture, although rather spongy and alluring to 

 the worm ; but this defect may be remedied by steeping 

 it for a short, time in water. By late experiments it has 

 been ascertained, or at least made probable, that if kept 

 altogether under water, it will last for centuries. f 



In stateliness and grandeur the Beech vies with the 

 Oak itself ; the branches are large and spreading ; the 

 stem swells to a great size ; the bark is eminently smooth, 

 and of a silvery cast ; and this, together with the general 

 softness and splendour of the foliage, renders it one of the 

 most magnificent and beautiful trees in the park. This 



Note X. 



t Note XI. 



