the BEECH-TREE: A genus of the polyandria order, belonging to the monoecia clas of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 56th order, Amentaceae. The male calyx is quinquiflora and campanulated; there is no corolla; the stamens are 12. The female calyx is quinqueflora; there is no corolla; there are three styles; the capsule (formerly the calyx) is muricated and quadrivalved; the seeds, two in number. There are three species. 1. The sylvaticus, or beech-tree, rises 60 or 70 feet high, and has 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 mag. 2. The caudata, 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 aments, succeeded by round prickly fruit, containing two or more nuts. 3. The pumila, dwarf chestnut-tree, or chinquapin, rises eight or ten feet high, with a branching shrubby 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. "For woods (says Evelyn), the beech must be governed as the oak:—In nurseries, as the ash; fowling the masts in autumn, or later, even after January, or rather nearer the spring, to preserve them from vermin, which are very great devourers of them. But they are likewise to be planted of young seedlings to be drawn out of the places where the fruitful trees abound." Millar says, the season for fowing the masts is any time from October to February, only observing to secure the seeds from vermin when early fowed, which, if carefully done, the sooner they are fown the better, after they are fully ripe." Hanbury orders a sufficient quantity of masts to be gathered about the middle of September, when they begin to fall: these are to be spread upon a mat in an airy place five days to dry; and after that you may either proceed to sow them immediately, or you may put them up in bags in order to fow them nearer the spring; which method I would rather advise, as they will keep very well, and there will be less danger of having them destroyed by mice or other vermin, by which kinds of animals they are greatly relished." They must be fown in beds properly prepared about an inch deep. In the first spring many of the young plants will appear, whilst others will not come up till the spring following. Having stood two years in the seminary, they should be removed to the nursery, where they may remain till wanted.

The propagation of the second species is also chiefly from seeds. Evelyn says, "Let the nuts be first spread to sweat, then cover them in sand; a month being past, plunge them in water, and reject the swimmers; being dried for 30 days more, sand them again, and to the water-ordal as before. Being thus treated until the beginning of spring or in November, set them as you would do beans; and, as some practice it, drenched for a night or more in new milk; but with half this preparation they need only to be put into the holes with the point upmost, as you plant tulips. If you design to set them in winter or autumn, I counsel you to inter them in their husks, which being every way armed, are a good protection against the mouse, and a providential integument."—"Being come up, they thrive best unmoved, making a great stand for at least two years upon every transplanting; yet if needs you must alter their station, let it be done about November." Millar cautions us against purchasing foreign nuts that have been kiln dried, which (he says) is generally done to prevent their sprouting in their passage; therefore he adds, "If they cannot be procured fresh from the tree, it will be much better to use those of the growth of England, which are full as good to sow for timber or beauty as any of the foreign nuts, though their fruit is much smaller." He also recommends preserving them in sand, and proving them in water. In setting these seeds or nuts (he says) "the best way is to make a drill with a hoe (as is commonly practised for kidney-beans) about four inches deep, in which you should place the nuts, at about four inches distance, with their eye uppermost; then draw the earth over them with a rake, and make a second drill at about a foot distance from the former, proceeding as before, allowing three or four rows in each bed.—In April (he does not mention the time of sowing) these nuts will appear above-ground; you must therefore observe to keep them clear from weeds, especially while young: in these beds they may remain for two years, when you should remove them into a nursery at a wider distance. The best time for transplanting these trees is either in October or the latter end of February, but October is the best season: the distance these should have in the nursery is three feet row from row, and one foot in the rows. If these trees have a downright tap-root, it should be cut off, especially if they are intended to be removed again: this will occasion their putting out lateral shoots, and render them less subject to miscarry when they are removed for good. The time generally allowed them in the nursery is three or four years, according to their growth; but the younger they are transplanted, the better they will succeed. Young trees of this sort are very apt to have crooked stems; but when they are transplanted out and have room to grow, as they increase in bulk they will grow more upright, and their stems will become straight, as I have frequently observed where there have been great plantations."—Hanbury follows Millar almost literally; except that he mentions February as the time of sowing; and recommends that the young plants, a year after they have been planted in the nursery, be cut down to within an inch of the ground; which (he says) "will cause them to shoot vigorously with one strong and straight stem." There is one material objection against sowing chestnuts in drills, which are well known to serve as guides or conductors to the field-mouse, who will run from one end to the other of a drill without letting a single nut escape her: we rather recommend setting them with a dibble, either promiscuously or a quincunx, at about six inches distance. Evelyn says, that coppices of chestnuts may be thickened by layering the tender young shoots; but adds, that "such as spring from the nuts and marrows are best of all." There is a striped-leaved variegation which is continued by budding; and the French are said to graft chestnuts for their fruit; but Millar says, such grafted trees are unfit for timber. The chestnuts will thrive. thrive upon almost any soil which lies out of the water's way; but disaffects wet moory land.

The method of propagating the dwarf chestnut is from seeds, which we receive from America. These should be planted in drills, as soon as they arrive, in a moistish bed of rich garden mould. If the seeds are good, they will come up pretty soon in the spring. After they appear, they will require no trouble, except keeping them clean from weeds, and watering them in dry weather. They may stand in the seedbed two years, and be afterwards planted in the nursery-ground, at a foot asunder and two feet distance in the rows; and here when they are got strong plants, they will be fit for any purpose.

Properties and Uses. In flateliness and grandeur of outline, the beech vies with the oak. Its foliage is peculiarly soft and pleasing to the eye; its branches are numerous and spreading; and its stem waxes to a great size. The bark of the beech is remarkably smooth, and of a silvery cast; this, added to the splendor and smoothness of its foliage, gives a striking neatness and delicacy to its general appearance. The beech, therefore, standing singly, and suffered to form its own natural head, is highly ornamental; and its leaves varying their hue as the autumn approaches, renders it in this point of view still more desirable. In point of actual use the beech follows next to the oak and the ash: it is almost as necessary to the cabinet-makers and turners (especially about the metropolis), as the oak is to the ship-builder, or the ash to the plough and cartwright. Evelyn nevertheless condemns it in pointed and general terms; because "where it lies dry, or wet and dry, it is exceedingly obnoxious to the worm." He adds, however, "but being put ten days in water, it will exceedingly resist the worm."

The natural soil and situation of the beech is upon dry, chalky, or limestone heights: It grows to a great size upon the hills of Surrey and Kent; as also upon the declivities of the Cotswold and Stroudwater hills of Gloucestershire, and flourishes exceedingly upon the bleak banks of the Wye, in Hereford and Monmouth shires; where it is much used in making charcoal. In situations like these, and where it is not already prevalent, the beech, whether as a timber-tree or as an underwood, is an object worthy the planter's attention.

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 leaves gathered in autumn, before they are much injured by the frosts, make much better mattresses 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 Silesia 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 Tortworth 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 Tortworth. It fixes the boundary of the manor, and is probably near 1000 years old. As an ornamental, the chestnut, tho' unequal to the oak, the beech, and the cedrus, has a degree of greatness belonging to it which recommends it strongly to the gardener's attention. Its uses have been highly extolled; and it may deserve a considerable share of the praise which has been given it. As a substitute for the oak, it is preferable to the elm: For door-jambs, window-frames, and some other purposes of the house-carpenter, it is nearly equal to oak itself; but it is very apt to be shakey, and there is a deceitful brittleness in it which renders it unsafe to be used as beams, or in any other situation where an uncertain load is required to be borne. It is universally allowed to be excellent for liquor casks; as not being liable to shrink, nor to change the colour of the liquor it contains: it is also strongly recommended as an underwood for hop-poles, stakes, &c. Its fruit too is valuable, not only for wine and beer, but as a human food: Bread is said to have been made of it. Upon the whole, the chestnut, whether in the light of ornament or use, is undoubtedly an object of the planter's notice.

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