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THE BEECH. 
By James Grigor, Author of the " Eastern- Akboketdm. 1 
The Beech is not generally reckoned of 
great beauty, — at least so the older writers on 
trees have written of it ; but this opinion is 
gradually giving way to a more just appre- 
ciation of this very useful and ornamental 
object. When planted in lines, avenues, or in 
such places where it is in any way confined, 
it becomes a high tree : in open lawns, where 
it stands singly, it is, as Scott observes, " a 
hill of leaves ;" and, indeed, wherever it 
grows, if it grow freely, it is exceedingly 
beautiful. Look at it in May : " at several feet 
from the ground its spiky buds become soft 
and silky, and, in a few days more, this soft- 
ness and silkiness wear onward and upward, 
" Till the whole tree 
Now swaggers in its leafy gallantry." 
The Beech has an amazing number of leaves, 
regularly disposed all over its surface : hence 
its shade has been counted on all hands, and 
in all ages, as preferable to that of most other 
trees. On this account Greece and Borne held 
it in especial favour, and their poets con- 
stantly refer to it as affording a most grateful 
shelter. 
It has been often observed that this tree is 
a lumpy and formal grower : so it is, in many 
instances, where the soil does not suit it ; but 
in Norfolk, and no doubt in other places, it 
not unfrequently presents a grand and stately 
outline, resembling the ash under its best 
forms. At Beeston Hall, the seat of Nathaniel 
Micklethwait, Esq., it is a high and graceful 
tree, tapestried after the manner of the finest 
weeping birches, its ramification being irre- 
gular, and its outline the very reverse of the 
character usually assigned to it. At "Wolter- 
ton, also, it rises into a noble figure, with 
masses of pensile spray. 
It is to be borne in mind, that the proper 
situation for this tree is in the more sheltered 
parts of park scenery, not far from the man- 
sion. No one with any judgment would place 
it on the brow of a hill, or in any exposed situa- 
tion where it would be liable to be vexed with 
the winds ; for, under such circumstances, its 
leaves become unsightly ; and, besides, even 
under its best aspects, its general character 
seldom rises beyond the beautiful, so that it is 
peculiarly unfit to combat with the blast. It 
is true that it is often found in the wilder and 
more mountainous parts of the country ; but 
it will be observed that the finest specimens, 
though in the neighbourhood of tempestuous 
scenes, are yet free from their effects, rising 
in sheltered slopes, or in the areas of natural 
amphitheatres, formed by the sweep of hills. 
It will be readily admitted, then, that the 
beauty of English park scenery is, in a great 
measure, indebted to the presence of the 
Beech. No tree harmonizes better with the 
greensward ; and it may be safely asserted, 
that, in the soft recesses of our pleasure- 
grounds, it is indispensable. Over bold and 
striking scenes we find the oak presiding, and 
in such places it is without a competitor ; but 
in quieter spots, where the eye has simply to 
be solaced, we call in the aid of the Beech. 
Let us pass on to its strictly useful cha- 
racter. In this respect it is of the greatest 
service. Though itself requiring shelter, 
especially when planted for an ornament, yet 
it will grow tolerably as a shelterer, if not 
exposed to the sea breeze ; and when closely 
planted around fields and gardens, it rises into 
a high screen, protecting everything in its 
neighbourhood. Many of the trees retain their 
leaves during winter and spring : hence it is 
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