the Beech-tree, a genus of the polyandra order, belonging to the monoecia clas of plants. There are three species. 1. The sylvaticus, or beech-tree, rises 60 or 70 feet high, and hath a proportionable thickness, branching upward into a fine regular head, garnished with oval serrated leaves, with flowers in globular catkins, succeeded by angular fruit called mast. 2. The celtanea, or chestnut-tree, hath a large upright trunk growing 40 or 50 feet high, branching regularly round into a fine spreading head, garnished with large spear-shaped acutely serrated leaves naked on the under side, having flowers in long amentums, succeeded by round prickly fruit, containing two or more nuts. 3. The pumila, dwarf chestnut-tree, or chinkapin, rises eight or ten feet high, with a branching fibrous stem, and oval, spear-shaped, and acutely serrated leaves, hoary on the under side.

Culture. The first is very easily raised from the mast or seed, which ripens in September, and may either be sown then, or in a month or two after, or towards the spring. For this purpose, beds are to be prepared four feet wide. The earth is then to be raked evenly from the surface, about an inch deep; then sow the mast, and beat it gently down with the back of the spade; afterwards covering it up with earth to the above-mentioned depth. Many of the plants will come up in the spring, but others not till a year after; and when they are two years old, they must be planted out in nursery-rows two feet and a half asunder, there to remain till they are four or five feet high, when they are to be transplanted to those places where they are to continue.—The second and third sorts are also propagated by seeds or nuts sown in drills. The nuts sometimes ripen perfectly in this country; but in default of this, there are vast quantities imported from Spain or Portugal. These last are reckoned preferable even to the best ripened chestnuts of this country.

Properties. The first species spreads its branches very wide, and affords a grateful shade; but no verdure will thrive under it. The mast, or seeds, yield a good oil for lamps; and are a very agreeable food to squirrels, mice, and swine. The fat of swine fed with them, however, is soft, and boils away unless hardened by some other food. The wood is brittle; very liable; durable in water, but not in the open air: it is the best of all woods for fuel, and is sometimes used by the wheelwright and turner to make axes, spokes, bowls, &c. Sword scabbards are also made of it, and shoemakers lasts; and formerly book-binders used it in making covers for books. The leaves gathered in autumn, before they are much injured by the frosts, make much better better matrasses than straw or chaff; and last for seven or eight years. The nuts, when eaten by the human species, occasion giddiness and headache; but when well dried and powdered, they make wholesome bread. They are sometimes roasted, and substituted for coffee. The poor people in Sicily use the expressed oil instead of butter. The chestnut tree sometimes grows to an immense size. The largest in the known world are those which grow upon Mount Etna in Sicily*. At Torthworth in Gloucestershire, is a chestnut tree 52 feet round. It is proved to have stood there ever since the year 1150, and was then so remarkable that it was called the great chestnut of Torthworth. It fixes the boundary of the manor, and is probably near 1000 years old. The wood of the chestnut tree is applicable to the same purposes with the oak. If the bark is not taken off, it makes poles for espaliers, dead fences, and hop-yards; and pipes to convey water under ground, which will last longer than elm or oak. Some of the oldest buildings in London are said to be constructed with this wood. The nuts are used for whitening linen cloth, and for making starch.