FLORA AND SYLVA 
and pulleys, and the turning of wooden 
screws and similar objects, it is almost 
unequalled. In parts of France it is 
also used for the making of wooden 
sabots and as hoops for wine-barrels. 
But its great value is as fuel, kindling 
readily, burning slowly yet with a clear, 
bright flame and much heat, until the last 
particle is consumed. From its wood is 
prepared one of the purest charcoals, 
much in demand upon the continent for 
the making of gunpowder. The wood 
of pollard trees such as that shown in our 
engraving, is generally discoloured and 
of inferior value. 
The wood of the Hornbeam being 
little used for industrial purposes, and 
on the other hand much in demand for 
fuel and for making charcoal, it is better 
to grow it in copses than in woods. In 
certain conditions, however, it can be 
usefully grown along with more import- 
ant trees like the Oak and Chestnut, 
when, as it forms much covert, it keeps 
the soil in good order and (apart from 
any return that it may give) assists 
materially in the regeneration of the soil 
by the Oak. Where the soil is suffi- 
ciently moist, it may be planted as a 
nurse for better trees, its own roots 
never forming suckers or injuring those 
of other trees. It will disappear gradually 
in the process of thinning the wood, and 
as its presence becomes less necessary 
to the more valuable trees. 
Mr. Moon's drawing of the tree was 
made on a common near St. Albans. 
References. — Loudon, Arboretum, vol. 3, p. 2004 ; 
Evelyn's Silva, vol. i, p. 138 ; Cobbett, Woodlands, par. 
306 ; Selby, Forest Trees, p. 337 ; Mathieu, Flore Fores- 
tifere, p. 396 ; Mouillefert, Essences Forestieres, p. 139 ; 
Woods and Forests, various notes. 
GYPSOPHILA. 
In these days when cut bloom plays so 
large a part in the home, the Gypsophila 
has taken a foremost place among the 
hardy plants grown for cutting, its pro- 
fuse heads of tiny flowers giving grace 
to various forms of decoration. Many 
years before it was well known in this 
country it was valued upon the continent 
for dried bouquets, but of late years the 
I various kinds have perhaps been as large- 
ly grown in this country as anywhere, 
vast quantities of the commoner kinds 
being raised for market. In addition to 
the bolder kinds grown for cutting there 
are several pretty plants of trailing habit 
' and much charm of flower in the rock- 
garden,kinds such as cerastioidesJiba?20- 
\ tica^ repe?is^ 2indprostrata^ and the pretty 
little annual species, C. ;/^//m//>. Gypso- 
; phila ekga/ts^ now so much grown for 
cutting in early summer, is also an annual 
j remarkable for its rapid growth and 
easily raised in successive sowings to 
flower before the perennial kinds come 
into beauty. Gypsophila paniculataAo^^ 
not flower until the middle of July, but 
by growing Gypsophila Stevenidindi Gyp- 
sophila Rokejeka^ both somewhat similar 
in general eflect, the season may be pro- 
longed, Steve?ii flowering earlier and 
Rokejeka a little later than paniculata. 
Where they do well these strong-grow- 
ing kinds are sometimes too vigorous 
for the kept border and are then best 
used for gaps among shrubs or for bold 
groups of mist-like eflect in the wilder 
parts of the garden. 
The Gypsophilas are plants of Eu- 
rope and Asia, belonging to the Stitch- 
wort family, and numbering 50 to 60 
