The wood of this tree is said to be very hard. Joiners do not care to work on Hornbeam, as it quickly blunts their tools; and some people tell you that the name is really Hard-beam, and that we have got into a careless habit of calling the tree by a wrong name. But there is another tale which may be the true one. Long ago, when ploughing was done by bullocks in this country, as it is to-day in many lands, each pair of bullocks was fastened together with a wooden collar called a yoke. This yoke was made of Hornbeam because of its strength, and the tree might get its name because from it was made the beam of wood that goes over the horns.
Nowadays the wood is little used except for making small things, such as handles of knives, and spoons, and cog-wheels.
PLATE VI
THE HAZEL
There are few of us who think of the Hazel as one of our forest trees. We know it as a large, straggling bush, with a thicket of leaves and branches, among which are hidden delicious nuts. But in some places the Hazel has quite outgrown the bush stage: in Middlesex there is a Hazel tree sixty feet high, with a straight thick trunk and many large branches covered luxuriantly with leaves.
The Hazel (1) has been known in history for many centuries. The Romans wrote that its spreading roots did harm to the young vines, but they found its supple twigs invaluable for tying up the straggling vine shoots.
Scotland is said to have been called Caledonia from Cal Dun, which means the hill of Hazel. And in Surrey we have the name Haslemere, which tells its own story.
THE HAZEL
1. Hazel Bush2. Leaf Spray with Nuts3. Stamen Catkin
4. Seed Catkins5. Hazel Nuts