passes from Dorsetshire through Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex,
and Kent; trenching out into Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and
Hertfordshire; and it is also found on the Stroudwater and Cotswold
hills in Gloucestershire, and on the banks of the Wye in Herefordshire
and Monmouthshire. It is particularly abundant in Buckinghamshire, where
it forms extensive forests of great magnificence and beauty. It is
seldom found mixed with other trees, even when they are coeval with it
in point of age. It is rarely found in soil that is not more or less
calcareous; and it most commonly abounds on chalk. The finest trees in
England are said to grow in Hampshire; and there is a curious legend
respecting those in the forest of St. Leonard, in that county. This
forest, which was the abode of St. Leonard, abounds in noble
Beech-trees; and the saint was particularly fond of reposing under
their shade; but, when he did so, he was annoyed during the day by
vipers, and at night by the singing of the nightingale. Accordingly, he
prayed that they might be removed; and such was the efficacy of his
prayers, that since his time, in this forest,
"The viper has ne'er been known to sting,
Or the nightingale e'er heard to sing."
The wood of this tree, from its softness, is easy of being worked, and
is consequently a favourite with the turner. Beechen bowls, curiously
carved, were highly prized by the ancient shepherds. Indeed, we learn
that their use was almost universal:
Hence, in the world's best years, the humble shed
Was happily and fully furnished:
Beech made their chests, their beds, and the joined stools;
Beech made the board, the platters, and the bowls.
And it is still used for dishes, trays, trenchers, &c. And Dodsley
informs us that it was used for the sounding-boards of musical
instruments.
--The soft Beech
And close-grained box employ the turner's wheel;
And with a thousand implements supply
Mechanic skill.
We cannot willingly conclude this article without introducing
Wordsworth's beautiful description of a solitary Beech-tree, which stood
within "a stately fir-grove," where he was not loth
To sympathize with vulgar coppice birds,
That, for protection from the nipping blast,
Thither repaired. A single Beech-tree grew
Within this grove of firs, and in the fork
Of that one Beech appeared a thrush's nest:
A last year's nest, conspicuously built
At such small elevation from the ground,
As gave sure sign that they who in that house
Of nature and of love had made their home,
Amid the fir-trees all the summer long,
Dwelt in a tranquil spot.
The principal varieties of the Beech are:--
1. _Purpurea_, the purple Beech, which has the buds and young shoots of
a rose colour; the leaves, when half developed, of a cherry red, and of
so dark a purple, when fully matured, as to appear almost black.
2. _Foliis variegatis_, having the leaves variegated with white and
yellow, interspersed with some streaks of red and purple.
3. _Pendulata_, the weeping Beech, having the branches beautifully
pendent.
[Illustration: THE BIRCH-TREE.]
THE BIRCH-TREE.
[_Betula._[D] Nat. Ord.--_Amentiferæ_; Linn.--_Monoec. Poly._]
[D] _Generic characters._ _Barren_ flowers in a cylindrical catkin with
ternate scales. Perianth none. Stamens 10 or 12. _Fertile_ flowers in an
oblong catkin, with 3-lobed, 3-flowered scales. Perianth none. Styles 2,
filiform. Emit an oblong nut, deciduous, winged, 1-celled. Kernel
solitary.
--most beautiful
Of forest trees, the lady of the woods.
Coleridge.
The common Birch (_B. alba_) is a native of the colder regions of Europe
and Asia, being found from Iceland to Mount Etna; in Siberia, as far as
the Altaic mountains; and also in the Himalayas; but not in Africa. It
is known, at first sight, by the silvery whiteness of its bark, the
comparative smallness of its leaves, and the lightness and airiness of
its whole appearance. It is admirably calculated to diversify the scene,
forming a pleasing variety among other trees, either in summer or
winter. In summer it is covered over with beautiful small leaves, and
the stem being generally marked with brown, yellow, and silvery touches
of a peculiarly picturesque character, as they are characteristic
objects of imitation for the pencil, forms an agreeable contrast with
the dark green hue of the foliage, as it is waved to and fro by every
breath of air. Only the stem and larger branches, however, have this
varied colouring: the spray is of a deep brown, which is the colour,
too, of the larger branches, where the external rind is peeled off. As
the tree grows old, its bark becomes rough and furrowed; it loses all
its varied tints, and assumes a uniform ferruginous hue.
The Birch is altogether raised from roots or suckers, which, being
planted at intervals of four or five feet, in small twigs, will speedily
rise to trees, provided the soil suit them, and this cannot well be too
barren or spongy; for it will thrive in dry and wet, sandy or stony
places, in marshes or bogs.
[Illustration: _Specific characters of B. alba._ Leaves ovate, deltoid,
acute, unequally serrate, nearly smooth. A moderately-sized tree, seldom
exceeding fifty feet in height, with a trunk of from twelve to eighteen
inches in diameter, with a white outer bark, peeling transversely, the
twigs very slender, and more or less drooping. Flowers in April and May;
grows abundantly in extensive natural woods in various parts of the
country, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland.]
In ancient times, the Birch, whose timber is almost worthless, according
to Evelyn, afforded the Old English warriors arrows, bolts, and shafts;
and in modern times, its charcoal forms a principal ingredient in the
manufacture of gunpowder. In spring, the Birch abounds in juices, and
from these the rustic housewife makes an agreeable and wholesome wine:
as Warton sings:
And though she boasts no charm divine,
Yet she can carve, and make Birch wine.
Pomona's bard says, also, that
--Even afflictive Birch,
Cursed by unlettered idle youth, distils
A limpid current from her wounded bark,
Profuse of nursing sap.
We are informed that a Birch-tree has been known to yield, in the course
of the season, a quantity of sap equal to its own weight. It is obtained
by inserting, in the early part of spring, a fosset made of an elder
stick, with the pith taken out; and setting vessels, or hanging
bladders, to receive the liquor. The sooner it is boiled the better; so
that, in order to procure a sufficient quantity in a short time, a
number of trees should be bored on the same day, and two or three
fossets inserted in each of the larger trees. Sugar is now commonly used
to sweeten it, in the proportion of from two to four pounds to each
gallon of liquor. This is allowed to simmer so long as any scum rises,
which must be cleared as fast as it appears. It is then poured into a
tub to cool, after which it is turned into a cask, and bunged up when it
has done working; and is ready to be drunk when a year old.
As before remarked, the timber of the Birch is of little value; though
in the Highlands, where pine is not to be had, it is used for all
purposes. Its stems form the rafters of cabins; "wattles of the boughs
are the walls and the door; and even the chests and boxes are of this
rude basket-work."
Light and strong canoes were formerly made of this timber in Britain,
and also in other parts of Europe; and are even now in the northern
parts of America. It also makes good fuel; and in Lancashire great
quantities of besoms are made for exportation from the slender twigs.
The bark is used in Russia and Poland for the covering of houses,
instead of slates or tiles; and anciently the inner white cuticle and
silken bark were used for writing-paper. Coleridge describes
A curious picture, with a master's haste
Sketched on a strip of pinky-silver skin
Peeled from the Birchen bark.
There is no part of this tree, however, that is not useful for some
purpose or other. Even its leaves are used by the Finland women, in
forming a soft elastic couch for the cradle of infancy.
Gilpin particularly notes a beautiful variety of the White Birch, _B.
pendula_, sometimes called the Lady Birch, or the Weeping Birch. Its
spray being slenderer and longer than the common sort, forms an elegant
pensile foliage, like the weeping willow, and, like it, is put in motion
by the smallest breeze. When agitated, it is well adapted to
characterize a storm, or to perform any office in landscape which is
expected from the weeping willow. This is agreeably described in
Wilson's Isle of Palms:
--on the green slope
Of a romantic glade we sate us down,
Amid the fragrance of the yellow broom,
While o'er our heads the Weeping Birch-tree streamed
Its branches, arching like a fountain shower.
"A Weeping Birch, at Balloghie, in the parish of Birse, in
Aberdeenshire, in 1792, measured five feet in circumference; but it
carried nearly this degree of thickness, with a clear stem, up to the
height of about fifty feet, and it was judged to be about one hundred
feet high."
[Illustration: THE CEDAR OF LEBANON.]
THE CEDAR OF LEBANON.
[_Cedrus Libani._ Nat. Ord.--_Coniferæ_; Linn.--_Pinus C. Monoec.
Monand.]_
On high the Cedar
Stoops, like a monarch to his people bending,
And casts his sweets around him.
Barry Cornwall.
The Cedar of Lebanon is a majestic evergreen tree, generally from fifty
to eighty feet in height, extending wide its boughs and branches; and
its sturdy arms grow in time so weighty, as frequently to bend the very
stem and main shaft. Phillips observes, that "this noble tree has a
dignity and a general striking character of growth so peculiar to
itself, that no other tree can possibly be mistaken for it. It is
instantly recognized by its wide-extending branches, that incline their
extremities downwards, exhibiting a most beautiful upper surface, like
so many verdant banks, which, when agitated by the wind, play in the
most graceful manner, forming one of the most elegant, as well as one of
the most noble, objects of the vegetable kingdom."
The Cedar of Lebanon was formerly supposed to grow nowhere but on that
mountain; but it was discovered, in 1832, on several mountains of the
same group, and the probability is, that it extends over the whole of
the Tauri mountains. It has also been discovered on the Atlas range of
northern Africa.
It is generally spoken of as a lofty tree. Milton, in speaking of it,
says,
Insuperable height of loftiest shade.
And Rowe, in his Lucan, alludes to the "tall Cedar's head;" and Spenser
speaks of the "Cedar tall;" and Churchill sings,
The Cedar, whose top mates the highest cloud.
Notwithstanding these poetical authorities for the loftiness of the
Cedar, we are assured by Evelyn, and others, that it is not lofty, but
is rather remarkable for its wide-spreading branches. In Prior's
Solomon, we read of
The spreading Cedar that an age had stood,
Supreme of trees, and mistress of the wood,
Cut down and carved, my shining roof adorns,
And Lebanon his ruined honour mourns.
Mason describes it as far-spreading:
--Cedars here,
Coeval with the sky-crowned mountain's self,
Spread wide their giant arms.
The prophet Ezekiel has given us the fullest description of the Cedar:
"Behold the Assyrian was a Cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and
with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among
the thick boughs. His boughs were multiplied, and his branches became
long. The fir-trees were not like his boughs, nor the chestnut-trees
like his branches, nor any tree in the garden of God like unto him in
beauty."
In this description, two of the principal characteristics of the Cedar
are marked.
The first is, the multiplicity and length of his branches. Few trees
divide so many fair branches from the main stem, or spread over so large
a compass of ground. His boughs are multiplied, as Ezekiel says, and his
branches become long, which David calls spreading abroad.
The second characteristic is his shadowing shroud. No tree in the
forest is more remarkable than the Cedar for its close-woven leafy
canopy. Ezekiel's Cedar is marked as a tree of full and perfect
growth, from the circumstance of its top being among the thick boughs.
Almost every young tree, and particularly every young Cedar, has what
is called a leading branch or two, which continue spiring above the
rest till the tree has attained its full size; then the tree becomes,
in the language of the nurseryman, clump-headed: but, in the language
of eastern sublimity its top is among the thick boughs; that is, no
distinction of any spiry head, or leading branch, appears; the head
and the branches are all mixed together. This is generally, in all
trees, the state in which they are most perfect and most beautiful.
Such is the grandeur and form of the Cedar of Lebanon. Its mantling
foliage, or shadowing shroud, as Ezekiel calls it, is its greatest
beauty, which arises from the horizontal growth of its branches
forming a kind of sweeping, irregular penthouse. And when to the idea
of beauty that of strength is added, by the pyramidal form of the
stem, and the robustness of the limbs, the tree is complete in all its
beauty and majesty. In these climates, indeed, we cannot expect to see
the Cedar in such perfection. The forest of Lebanon is, perhaps, the
only part of the world where its growth is perfect; yet we may, in
some degree, conceive its beauty and majesty, from the paltry
resemblances of it at this distance from its native soil. In its
youth, it is often with us a vigorous thriving plant; and if the
leading branch is not bound to a pole (as many people deform their
Cedars), but left to take its natural course, and guide the stem after
it in some irregular waving line, it is often an object of great
beauty. But, in its maturer age, the beauty of the English Cedar is
generally gone; it becomes shrivelled, deformed, and stunted; its body
increases, but its limbs shrink and wither. Thus it never gives us its
two leading qualities together. In its youth, we have some idea of its
beauty, without its strength; and in its advanced age, we have some
idea of its strength, without its beauty. The imagination, therefore,
by joining together the two different periods of its age in this
climate, may form some conception of the grandeur of the Cedar in its
own climate, where its strength and beauty are united.
[Illustration: (Leaves, Cone and Seeds of Cedar of Lebanon)]
The following particular botanical description of this celebrated tree,
is given by Loudon in his _Arboretum_:--
"The _leaves_ are generally of a dark grass green, straight, about
one inch long, slender, nearly cylindrical, tapering to a point,
and are on foot-stalks. The leaves, which remain two years on the
branches, are at first produced in tufts; the buds from which they
spring having the appearance of abortive shoots, which, instead of
becoming branches, only produce a tuft of leaves pressed closely
together in a whorl. These buds continue, for several years in
succession, to produce every spring a new tuft of leaves, placed
above those of the preceding year; and thus each bud may be said to
make a slight growth annually, but so slowly, that it can scarcely
be perceived to have advanced a line in length; hence, many of
these buds may be found on old trees, which have eight or ten
rings, each ring being the growth of one year; and sometimes they
ramify a little. At length, sooner or later, they produce the male
and female flowers. The _male catkins_ are simple, solitary, of a
reddish hue, about two inches long, terminal, and turning upwards.
They are composed of a great number of sessile, imbricated stamens,
on a common axis. Each stamen is furnished with an anther with two
cells, which open lengthwise by their lower part; and each
terminates in a sort of crest, pointing upwards. The pollen is
yellowish, and is produced in great abundance. The _female catkins_
are short, erect, roundish, and rather oval; they change, after
fecundation, into ovate oblong _cones_, which become, at maturity,
from two and a half to five inches long. The cones are of a
grayish-brown, with a plum-coloured or pinkish bloom when young,
which they lose as they approach maturity; they are composed of a
series of coriaceous imbricated _scales_, laid flat, and firmly
pressed against each other in an oblique spiral direction. The
scales are very broad, obtuse, and truncated at the summit; very
thin, and slightly denticulated at the edge; and reddish and
shining on the flat part. Each scale contains two seeds, each
surmounted by a very thin membranous _wing_, of which the upper
part is very broad, and the lower narrow, enveloping the greater
part of the seed. The cones are very firmly attached to the
branches; they neither open nor fall off, as in the other Abietinæ;
but, when ripe, the scales become loose, and drop gradually,
leaving the axis of the cone still fixed on the branch. The _seeds_
are of an irregular, but somewhat triangular form, nearly one and a
half inch long, of a lightish brown colour. Every part of the cone
abounds with resin, which sometimes exudes from between the scales.
The female catkins are produced in October, but the cones do not
appear till the end of the second year; and, if not gathered, they
will remain attached to the tree for several years. The Cedar of
Lebanon does not begin to produce cones till it is twenty-five or
thirty years old; and, even then, the seeds in such cones are
generally imperfect; and it is not till after several years of
bearing, that seeds from the cones of young trees can be depended
upon. Some Cedars produce only male catkins, and these in immense
abundance; others, only female catkins; and some both. There are
trees of vigorous growth at various places, which, though upwards
of one hundred years old, have scarcely ever produced either male
or female catkins. The duration of the Cedar is supposed to extend
to several centuries."
The Cedar is cultivated from seeds and berries. Any climate suits it,
provided it meet with a sandy soil; though it grows better in cold than
in warm climates, as its cultivation is more successful in Scotland than
in England.
The peculiar property of its timber is extremely remarkable, being
declared proof against all putrefaction of human or other bodies,
serving better than all other ingredients or compositions for embalming;
thus, by a singular contradiction, giving life as it were to the dead,
and destroying the worms which are living, as it does, where any goods
are kept in chests and presses of the wood--except woollen cloths and
furs, which, it is observed, they destroy. Its preservative power is
attributed to the bitterness of its resinous juices. The ancients, in
praising any literary work, would say, "It is worthy of being cased in
Cedar." It is also very durable, it being on record that in the Temple
of Apollo, at Utica, there was found timber of near two thousand years
old.
The most remarkable existing Cedars in this country are at Chelsea, at
Enfield, at Chiswick House, at Sion House, at Strathfieldsaye, at
Charley Wood near Rickmansworth, at Wilton, near Salisbury and at Osgood
Hanbury's near Coggeshall. The largest of these, at Strathfieldsaye, is
one hundred and eight feet in height; diameter of the trunk, three feet,
and diameter of the head, seventy-four feet.
[Illustration: THE SWEET CHESTNUT-TREE.]
THE SWEET CHESTNUT-TREE.
[_Castaneæ vulgaris._ Nat. Ord.--_Amentiferæ_; Linn.--_Monoec.
Poly._]
The Sweet Chestnut, so called with reference to the fruit, in
contradistinction to that of the Horse-Chestnut, which is bitter, is
also called the Spanish Chestnut, because the best chestnuts for the
table are imported from Spain. In favourable situations, it becomes a
magnificent tree, though it never attains a height, or diameter of head,
equal to that of the oak. The trunk generally rises erect, forming, in
all cases, a massy column of wood, in proportion to the expansion of the
head, or the height of the tree. The branches form nearly the same
angle with the trunk as those of the oak; though in thriving trees the
angle is somewhat more acute. If planted in woods, by the road-side, and
left untrimmed, as they should be, they will be feathered to the bottom,
and will in summer, in addition to their beautiful appearance, hide the
naked stems of other trees which are considered disagreeable objects;
while in autumn, the golden hue of the leaves will heighten the mellow
and pleasing effect produced in the woodlands by the variety of hues in
the foliage of different trees, which contrast and blend together in one
harmonious and pictorial aspect.
The Chestnut has been considered indigenous; but this is the more
doubtful, that the tree rarely ripens its fruit, except in a climate
that will ripen the grape in the open air. On old trees, the leaves are
from four to six inches long; but on young and vigorous shoots, they are
often nearly twelve inches in length, and from three to four inches in
breadth. They are of a rich shining green above, and paler beneath. The
flowers are produced on the wood of the current year, and are ranged
along the common stalk, in lateral sessile tufts. The rate of growth of
young trees, in the neighbourhood of London, averages from two to three
feet for the first ten or twelve years. The tree will attain the height
of from sixty to eighty feet in about sixty years; but the tree will
live for several centuries afterwards, and produce abundance of fruit.
The finest trees in England are said to stand on the banks of the Tamer,
in Cornwall; and at Beechworth Castle, in Surrey, there are seventy or
eighty Chestnuts, measuring from twelve to eighteen or twenty feet in
girth, and some of them very picturesque in form. One, on Earl Durie's
estate of Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, is proved to have stood ever
since 1150, and to have been then remarkable for its age and size.
[Illustration: * _Generic characters of the Castaneæ._ _Barren_ flowers
in a long cylindrical spike. Perianth 6-cleft. Stamens 8 to 20.
_Fertile_ flowers, 3 within a 4-lobed muricated involucre. Stigmas 3 to
8. Ovary 5 to 8-celled. Nuts 1 or 2, within the enlarged prickly
involucre.
_Specific characters of C. vulgaris_. Leaves lanceolate, acutely
serrate, smooth beneath; prickles compound and entangled; stigmas 6.]
The Chestnut is cultivated best by sowing and setting: the nuts must,
however, be left to sweat, and then be covered with sand; after having
been thus heated for a month, plunge the nuts in water, and reject the
swimmers; then dry them for thirty days, and repeat the process. In
November, set them as you would beans, taking care to do it in their
husks. This tree will thrive in almost all soils and situations, though
it succeeds best in rich loamy land. Nothing will thrive beneath its
shade. Among mast-bearing trees this is said to be the most valuable;
since the nuts, when ripened in southern climates, are considered
delicacies for princes. In this country, however, where they rarely come
to maturity, they fall to the lot of hogs and squirrels. The trees
cultivated for fruit are generally grafted; and, in several parts of
South Europe, the peasantry are mainly supported by bread made of the
nut-flour. In Italy, in Virgil's time, they ate them with milk and
cheese:
Chestnuts, and curds and cream shall be our fare.
And again, in his second _Pastoral_, thus translated by Dryden:
Myself will search our planted grounds at home,
For downy peaches and the glossy plum;
And thrash the Chestnuts in the neighbouring grove,
Such as my Amaryllis used to love.
The timber of the Chestnut is strong and very durable; but it is often
found decayed at the core, and, in working, is very brittle. The wood is
preferred for the manufacture of liquor tubs and vessels, as it does not
shrink after being once seasoned. This tree is now, however, chiefly
grown for hop-poles, which are the straightest, tallest, and most
durable. Though cut at an early age for this purpose, the trees are
frequently ornaments of our parks and pleasure-grounds.
[Illustration: THE ELM-TREE.]
THE ELM-TREE.
[_Ulmus_[E] Nat. Ord.--_Ulmaceæ_; Linn.--_Pentand. Digy._]