140 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. in» are cold hills, stiff ground, and the barren and most exposed parts 

 of woods. We have it no where more abounding, in the south, than 

 in the woods of Hertfordshire ; very few westward. 



2. Amongst other uses, it serves for mill-cogs, for which it excels either 

 Yew or Crab ; it makes good yoke-timber, whence of old, and that it was 



growth, they should be thinned, which must be done with caution, cutting away the most 

 unpromising plants gradually, so as not to let in too much cold air at once upon those that 

 are left, especially on the borders of the plantation. For, in all young plantations of timber, 

 it is much better to take away a few trees every year, than, as is too often practised, to per- 

 mit all to grow till they are fit to be cut as under-wood, when a few trees are left for timber. 

 By this injudicious practice, so much cold air is suddenly let in upon the limber-trees, that 

 their growth is retarded for some years. The leaves of the Horn-beam remain upon the 

 branches till the young buds push them off in spring, which renders them proper to 

 plant round the borders of other plantations in exposed situations; where they will defend 

 the other trees in winter, and thereby promote their growth. 



2. CARPINUS (osTRYA) squamis strobilorum inflatis. Lin. Sp. PI. l-iiy. Horn-beam with 

 inflated scales to the co?ies. Ostrya ulmo similis, fructu racemose lupulo simili. Bauh. Pin. 427. 

 The hop horn-beam. 



This kind sheds its leaves in winter, with the Elm, and other deciduous trees : Though but 

 lately known in this country, it is very common in Gerinany, growing promiscuously with 

 the common sort. The hop Horn-beam is of quicker growth than the common kind, but 

 the goodness of the timber is not yet known, there being but few of these trees growing in 

 England upon their own roots, most of tliem having been grafted upon the common Horn- 

 beam, the usual method of propagating them in our nurseries. But the trees so raised are of 

 short duration ; for the graft generally grows much faster than the stock, so that in a few 

 years there is great disproportion in their size; and where they happen to stand exposed 

 to strong winds, the graft is frequently broken from the stock, after many years gro^vth. 

 The two following are only varieties: 



1. CARPINUS CoRiF.NTALisJ foliis ovato-lanceolatis serratis strobilis brevibus. Horn-beam 

 tvith oval, spear-shaped, sawed leaves, and the shortest cones. Carpinus orientalis folio minori, 

 ■fructu brevi. T. Cor. 40. Eastern horn-beam, with a smaller leaf and shorter frvit. 



This tree is of humble growth, rarely rising, in this country, above ten or twelve feet in height. 

 As it shoots out many horizontal irregular branches, it cannot be trained up to a stem. The 

 leaves are much smaller than those of the common Horn-beam, and the branches grow closer 

 together, which qualifies it for low hedges, where such are wanted in gardens. Being a very 

 tonsile plant, it may be kept in less compass than almost any deciduous tree. It is as hardy 

 as any of the other sorts ; but, at present, it is rare in our nurseries. 



2. CARPINUS (firginiana J foliis lanceolatis acuminatis, strobilis longissirais. Horn- 

 beam with pointed, spear-shaped leaves, and the longest cones. Carpinus ^'■irgi^iana florescens. 

 Pluk. Virginian flowering horn-beam. 



