OF FOREST-TREES. 



139 



CHAPTER VI. 



The HORN-BE AM\ 



1 O STRYS, the HORN-BEAM. This, by some, is called the Horse- cHAP. VI. 

 beech, from the resemblance of the leaf ; and in Latin is named Carpinus. 

 It is planted off sets, though it may likewise be raised from the seeds, 

 which, being mature in August, should be sown in October ; these 

 lie a year in the bed, which must be well and carefully shaded so soon 

 as they peep. But the more expeditious way is by layers or sets of about 

 an inch diameter, and cut within half a foot of the earth : Thus it will 

 advance to a considerable tree. The places it chiefly desires to grow 



" Of this GENUS there are only two species. 



1. CARPINUS (betulus) squamis strobilorum planis. Lin. Sp. PI. 14l6. Horn-beam with 

 jiat scales to the cones. Carpinus Dod. Pemp. 841. Common horn-beam. 



This sort is very common in many parts of England, but is rarely suffered to grow as a timber- 

 tree, being generally pollarded by tlie country people; yet, where the young trees have been 

 properly treated, they have grown to a large size. Mr. Miller mentions his having seen 

 some of them in woods, upon a cold, stiff clay, that were near seventy feet in height, with 

 large noble stems, perfectly straight and sound. Of late years, this has only been considered 

 as a shrub, and seldom cultivated, but for under- wood in the country, and for hedges in the 

 nurseries, after the French taste ; for in most of their great gardens, their Cabinets, &c. are formed 

 of these trees, as are their trellisses and hedges which surround their plantations. But, since 

 these ornaments have been banished from the English gardens, there has been little demand 

 for this tree. As the Horn-beam will thrive upon cold, barren, and exposed hills, and in 

 such situations where few other trees will grow, it may be cultivated to advantage by the 

 proprietors of such lands. It will resist the violence of winds better than most other trees, 

 and is by no means slow in its growth. But where it is propagated for timber, it should be 

 raised from seeds, upon the same soil, and in the same situation where it is designed to grow ; 

 and not be brought from very rich land, and a warm exposure. The seeds should be sown 

 in the autumn, soon after they are ripe ; for, if they are kept out of the ground till the spring, 

 the plants will not come up till the following year. When the plants appear, they must 

 be kept clear from weeds, and treated as other forest-trees. In two years they will be iit to 

 transplant; for the sooner all trees that are designed for timber are planted where they are 

 to remain, the larger they will grow, and the wood will be firmer and more durable. When 

 these are not intermixed with other trees, they should be planted close, especially on the 

 outside of the plantations, that they may protect and draw each other up ; and if they 

 are kept clean from weeds three or four years, it will greatly promote tiieir growth ; after 

 which the plants will need no further assistance in that particular. As the trees advance in 



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