1968

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

rather almost impossible, to be represented by the artist, are accidents whichare productive of very pleasing ideas in the mind of the feeling observer ofnature. ‘ They make spreading trees and noble shades,’ says old Evelyn,‘ with their well-furnished and glittering leaves, being set at 40 ft. distance.But they grow taller, and more upright, in the forests, where I have beheldthem, at 8 ft. and 10ft., shoot into very long poles; but neither so apt fortimber nor fuel. In the valleys, where they stand nearest in consort, they willgrow to a stupendous prOcerity, though the soil be stony and very barren ;also upon the declivities, sides, and tops of hills.’ We remember to have beenmuch gratified with the effect of this tree, where all other trees were absent;it was in Italy , on the very summit of the Valombrosan Apennine. During ourprogress through the scorching plains of Italy (nay, we may safely say, afterbidding adieu to England), we had seen nothing to resemble the green swardof a British lawn. What was our agreeable surprise, then, when, on emergingfrom the upper boundary of those forests of chestnut and other trees whichthere cover the declivities of the mountains, we entered at last on a beautifulsloping and undulating lawn, composed of shaven turf of the richest possibleverdure, every where surrounded by fine spreading beeches, running into theopen ground in irregular promontories, and receding in bays, in which thevelvet surface of the pasture stole gradually into the cool shade! The wholewas like a scene of magic. It was iike a perfect and well-kept English park;and this produced by the enchanting hand of nature, on the summit of theApennines . We selected the most pleasing spot we could find on the verytop; and there, under the umbrageous cover of one of the largest trees, we eatour well-earned meal, where the boundless prospect gave to our wonderingand delighted eyes, the view of the waters of the Mediterranean on the one side,and those of the Adriatic on the other. We must confess, that we havehardly ever seen a beech tree since, without its bringing to our recollectionthe enjoyments of that most celestial day; and the reader will easily be ableto trace the combination of pleasing associations which made it so.” (Lau-der’s Gilpin, vol. i. p. 101.)

Soil and Situation. The beech will grow on dry soils, including sand, gravel,and chalk, more freely than most other trees; though it is found in thegreatest perfection in sandy calcareous loam or in fresh sandy loam on clay orrock. On both sandy and clayey soils, it sometimes becomes a tree of greatmagnitude, as in the case of the beech at Knowle, in Kent, which grows inpure sand, and which is 105 ft. high, with a head 123ft. in diameter; and theavenues at Panmure, in Forfarshire, on clayey loam, where, Mr. Sang informsus, there are specimens 90 ft. high, with clear trunks of upwards of SO ft.Among rocks, crags, and where there is little or no soil to be seen, and inlow situations by the banks of streams, Sang informs us that the beech willgrow to a vast and very uncommon size. It will thrive in elevated situations,but is not found at so great a height as the sycamore, or even the oak. (SeeGeography, fyc., p. 1955.)

Propagation and Culture. The species is universally propagated by seed,and the varieties by budding, grafting, or inarching. The seeds or nuts,which are commonly called mast, begin to drop from the husks in themonths of October and November; and this process may be acceleratedby shaking the tree. The nuts may then be gathered up, and dried in thesun, or in an airy shed or loft; after which, they may be mixed with sandthat is perfectly dry, at the rate of three bushels of sand to one of mast.French authors direct that the sand in which the mast is kept should beslightly watered once a month; which shows in a striking manner the dif-ference as to dryness between the climate of France and that of England.By some, the mast is spread in a thin stratum on a loft floor, without anysand; where it remains, being occasionally turned over, till the followingspring, and being covered with straw to exclude the frost. The mast onlyretains its vital properties for one year; and, therefore, it must be sown, at thelatest, during the following spring. The common time is from the beginning