"Not a beech but bears some cipher,
Tender word, or amorous text.
If one vale sounds Angelina,
Angelina sounds the next."
Propagation of the Beech.—The beech, in all its species and varieties, may be propagated by the usual modes, viz.: By seed, layers, budding and grafting. The seeds, when gathered, should be mixed with clean, sharp, moist sand, placed in boxes, and then stored in a cool or cold place and carefully protected from mice, until the time arrives for sowing in spring. They may also be sown in the fall and lightly covered with leaf mold or other light soil, but unless coated with tar or some offensive poisonous substance, vermin of some form will be very likely to find them and leave few to grow. Seedlings are used for stocks upon which to work the many varieties in cultivation; but as I am not writing this for the encouragement of propagators of purely ornamental trees, I will omit giving any very extended description of the different modes of propagating the beech, further than to say that should remarkably fine varieties with extra-sized nuts be discovered or produced, they can be perpetuated and multiplied by the same processes adopted for other kinds of nut trees.
Soil and Location.—The beeches of Northern countries, in their many varieties, thrive best in a cool, moist soil, for their roots rarely penetrate very deeply, but spread out widely and near the surface, forming an intricate network, which will try the patience of the woodman who attempts to clear away a forest of beech and break up the ground. In this country, as well as in Europe, the beech thrives in calcareous soils, or what is usually termed limestone regions; consequently, when transplanted or raised in sandy soils, or on the red sandstone formation, light applications of lime are usually found very beneficial; but more than all, the beech requires moisture, and if not planted in a moist soil the surface over the roots should be kept constantly covered with some kind of mulch.
Species and Varieties of the Beech.—In the Dictionary of Gardening, edited by George Nicholson, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, the following species of Fagus are briefly described, viz:
F. antarctica.—Leaves ovate, blunt, glabrous, attenuated at the base, doubly dentate, alternate, petiolate, one and a half inches long. A small deciduous tree or shrub, with rugged, tortuous branches. Native of Tierra del Fuego, S. A.
F. betuloides (birch-like). Evergreen beech.—Leaves ovate, elliptic, obtuse crenulate, leathery, shining glabrous, round at the base or short footstalks. An evergreen tree, native of Tierra del Fuego, S. A.
F. ferruginea (rusty). American beech.—Leaves ovate, acuminate, thickly toothed, downy beneath, ciliate on the margin. A large deciduous tree, very closely resembling the common European species, from which it is distinguished by its longer, thinner and less shining leaves.
F. obliqua (oblique). Chile beech.—Leaves ovate, oblong, oblique, somewhat rhomboid, blunt, doubly serrated, entire at the base, attenuated into the petiole, and somewhat downy. A hardy deciduous tree, native of the cooler elevated regions of Chile, S. A.