16 
RED BEECH. 
Department of the Somme, afforded oil enough to supply the wants of the 
district for more than half a century. 
The beech-nuts are of a triangular form, with a smooth, tough skin, and 
a fine inferior pellicle adhering to the kernel., They are united in pairs 
in capsules garnished with soft points, from which they escape about the 
1st of October, the season of their maturity. 
The oil is abundant only when the fruit is perfectly ripe. The season 
for extracting it is from the beginning of December to the end of March ; 
if the operation is longer delayed, the nuts are liable to be injured by the 
warmth of the season. 
The skin is commonly ground with the kernel, but as the product in this 
way diminishes a seventh, it would be more advantageous to separate them, 
which might be done in a flour-mill properly adjusted. The kernel should 
be immediately reduced to a paste by a vertical stone or by a pestle-mill. 
As the paste becomes dry in the process, water is added in the proportion 
of one pound to fifteen pounds of fruit, to prevent its being impaired by 
the heat. 
The paste is sufficiently reduced when the oil is discharged by the pres- 
sure of the hand. It is submitted to the press in sacks of coarse linen, of 
wool or of hair, and the force is gradually applied and long-continued, so 
that the oil may be completely distilled: three hours at least are required 
in an ordinary press. To prepare the paste for a second pressure, it is 
pulverized, a proportion of water being added smaller than at first, and the 
whole is warmed by the careful application of a moderate heat. A wedge- 
press is commonly employed in the second operation. 
With skill in the process the oil is equal to one-sixth of the fruit. Its 
quality depends upon the care with which it is made, and upon the purity 
of the vessels in which it is preserved. It should be twice drawn off during 
the first three months without disturbing the dregs, and a third time at the 
end of six months : it arrives at perfection only when it becomes limpid, 
several months after its extraction. It improves by age, lasts unimpaired 
for ten years, and may be preserved longer than any other oil. d 
PLATE CVII. 
A branch with leaves and fruit of the natural size. Fig. 1 , A nut. 
