Page:The Atlantic Monthly Volume 6.djvu/268

 260 Among the Trees. [September, hands of the " timberer," by forcing him latter, taking more of an upward direc- to procure his materials from the forest, tion, cause an observable space a little The community needs to be taught that below the middle of the height of the tree. a standard tree of good size and well-de- This double tier of branches and foliage veloped proportions is of more value for has been noticed by painters in the Eu- its shade, an<jl as an object in the land- ropean Beech. I have observed it in scape, than a whole acre of trees in the several instances in the American tree, middle of a wood. Standard Beech-trees are not numer- One of the most majestic trees in the ous in this part of the country ; indeed, American forest is the Chestnut, remark- they are seldom seen except in a wood, able, like the Oak, for its broad extent of or in clumps which have originated from shade. In some parts of the country it is the root of some tree that has perished, one of the most common standards in the I think they appear to better advantage field and pasture, having been left unmo- in groups and small assemblages than lested on account of the value of its fruit when single, as there is nothing greatly and the comparative inferiority of its tim- attractive in the form of a standard Beech ; ber. The foliage of this tree is dense but there is a peculiar sweep of the lat- and flowing, and peculiar in its arrange- eral branches, when they are standing in ment. The leaves are clustered in stars a group, which the student of trees can- of from five to seven, on short branches not fail to admire. They send out their that grow from one of greater length, branches more in right lines than most Hence, at a little distance, the whole mass other trees, and, as their leaves and the of foliage seems to consist of tufts, each extremities of their spray all have an up- containing a tassel of long pointed leaves, right tendency, they give a beautiful airy drooping divergently from a common cen- appearance to the edge of a wood. The tre. The flowers come out from the cen- foliage of other deciduous trees, even tre of these leaves in the same manner, when the branches tend upward, is most- and by their silvery green lustre give a ly of a drooping character. The Beech pleasing variety to the darker verdure of forms a pleasing exception to this habit, the whole mass. " This is the tree," says having leaves that point upward and out- Gilpin, " which graces the landscapes of wardly, instead of hanging loosely. In Salvator Rosa. In the mountains of Ca- most other trees the foliage is so heavy labria, where Salvator painted, the Chest- and flowing, that the courses of their nut flourished. There he studied it in branches are concealed under their dra- all its forms, breaking and disposing of it pery of leaves ; but in the Beech all the in a thousand beautiful shapes, as the ex- lines produced by the branches and foli- igencies of his composition required." age are harmonious, and may be distinct- The Beech is one of the same class of ly traced. trees, but does not equal the Chestnut in By taking note of these peculiarities in magnitude. It is distinguished by the their arborescent growth, one greatly mag- beauty of its clean, smooth shaft, which nifies his capacity for enjoying the beau- is commonly ribbed or fluted in a per- ties of trees. Without this observation, ceptible degree ; and in a wood, where their general appearance forms the chief there is an assemblage of these columns, object of his attention : he observes them rising without a branch to the height of only as a person of taste who cannot dis- thirty feet or more, they are singularly tinguish tunes -would listen to music. He beautiful. A peculiarity often observed feels the agreeable sensation which their in the Beech is a sort of double head of forms and aspects produce ; but, like one foliage. This is produced by the habit who thinks without adequate language of the tree of throwing out a whorl of im- for his thoughts, his ideas are vague and perfect branches just below the union of indefinite. The Beech is particularly the main branches with the trunk. The worthy of study, as in many points it dif-