MO

A DISCOURSE

in, are cold hills, stiff ground, and the barren and most exposed partsof woods. We have it no where more abounding, in the south, thanin the woods of Hertfordshire ; very few westward.

2. Amongst other uses, it serves for mill-cogs, for which it excels eitherYew or Crab ; it makes good yoak-timber, whence of old, and that it was

growth, they should be thinned, which must be done with caution, cutting away the mostunpromising plants gradually, so as not to let in too much cold air at once upon those thatare 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 timber-trees, thattheir growth is retarded for some years. The leaves of the Horn-beam remain upon thebranches till the young buds push them off in the spring, which renders them proper toplant round the borders of other plantations in exposed situations; where they will defendthe other trees in winter, and thereby promote their growth.

2. CARPINUS (ostsya)' squamis strobilorum inflatis. Lin. Sp. PI. 1417. Horn-beam withinflated scales to the cones. Ostrya ulmo similis, fructu recemoso lupulo simili. Bauh. Pin. 427.The hop horn-beam.

This kind sheds its leaves in winter, with the Elm, and other deciduous trees : Though butlately known in this country, it is very common in Germany , growing promiscuously withthe common sort. The Hop Horn-beam is of quicker growth than the common kind, butthe goodnefs of the timber is not yet known, there being hut few of these trees growing inEngland upon their own roots, most of them having been grafted upon the common Horn-beam, the usual method of propagating them in our nurseries. But the trees so raised are ofshort duration; for the graft generally grows much faster than the stock, so that in a fewyears there is a great disproportion in their size; and where they happen to stand exposedto strong winds, the graft is frequently broken from the stock, after many years growth.The two following are only varieties: - .

1. CARPINUS (orientalis) foliis ovato-lanceolatis serratis strobilis brevibus. Iiorn-beam•with oval, spear-shaped , sawed leaves, and the shortest cones. Carpinus orientalis folio minor!,fructu brevi. T. Cor. 40. Eastern horn-beam, with a smaller leaf and shorter fruit.

This tree is of humble growth, rartly 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. Theleaves are much smaller than those of the common Horn-beam, and the branches grow closertogether, which qualifies it for low hedges, where such are wanted in gardens. Being a verytonsile plant, it may be kept in lefs compafs than almost any deciduous tree. It is as hardyas auv of the other sorts; but, at present, it is rare in our nurseries.

2. CARPINUS ( virginiana ) foliis lanceolatis acuminatis, strobilis longifsimis. Horn-beam with pointed, spear-shaped leaves , and the longest cones. Carpinus Virginiana florescens. Pluk.fTsGINIAN FLOWERING HORN-BEAM.