Hornbeam

“ In any soil or position the hornbeam will grow readily, except exceedingly dry or too marshy spots. On chalky hillsides it does not grow so freely as on clayey plains. Under the latter conditions, however, the wood is not so good. In mountainous regions the hornbeam occupies a zone lower than that appropriated by the beech, rarely ascending more than 1,200 yards above sea level. ”

“ Scales large, leaf-like, 3-lobed, 2-flowered. Styles 2. Nut ovate, 1-seeded.
The Common Hornbeam, C. betulus, is a native of England and Ireland, and of the south of Scotland, and is also indigenous throughout the greater part of Europe and western Asia, but not in Africa. Picturesquely considered, the Hornbeam is very nearly allied to the beech. When suffered to grow it will be like it, and attain to a great height, with [110] a fine straight trunk; it is very common in many parts of England, but is rarely allowed to become a timber-tree, being generally pollarded by the country people. ”

“ The hornbeam thrives well on stiff, clayey, moist soils, into which its roots penetrate deeply; on chalk or gravel it does not flourish. Raised from seed it may become a tree 40 to as much as 70 ft. in height, greatly resembling the beech, except in its rounder and closer head. It is, however, rarely grown as a timber-tree, its chief employment being for hedges. ”

“ Great strength and a high degree of elasticity were required to stand the strain when a warrior swung his club in battle. Hornbeam meets these requirements exactly, and doubtless the Indian found this out by experience. It is about thirty per cent stronger than white oak, and forty-six per cent more elastic. The demand for warclub handles made no great inroads on the hornbeam supply, but it affords proof that the Indians sometimes used good judgment. ”

“ Evelyn says, "It burns like a candle." There are those who say that the name Hornbeam has reference to the tough or hornlike character of its beams; others declare that in the days when bullocks were yoked to the plough the yoke was made of this wood, as being fitted by its toughness to stand the strain, and as it was attached to the horns, it became the horn-beam. A third theory is that the name was derived from Ornus, the Manna-ash, with which early botanists confused it, but with all respect to the authority of Dr. ”

“ It has strongly-marked veins running from the centre to the edge of the leaf, and these veins stand up like cord on the under-side of the leaf. You remember that the Beech leaf was smooth and glossy, and that the Elm leaf was rough and hairy? The Hornbeam comes just between the two: it is too rough to be a Beech leaf, and is also too pointed, and it is too smooth to be an Elm leaf. Besides, the two sides of the Hornbeam leaf meet exactly opposite each other on the leaf stalk, and in the Elm the one side of the leaf very often joins the stalk farther down than the other: the leaf is lopsided. ”

“ The American hornbeam has bluish gray bark, very fine in texture, from which the name "blue beech," is common in some localities. "Water beech" points out the tree's preference for rich swamp land.
The trunk and limbs are strangely swollen, sometimes like a fluted column, oftener irregularly, the swelling under the bark suggesting the muscular development of a gymnast's arm.
In favorable places the hornbeams grow into regular oval heads, their branches dividing into a multitude of wiry, supple twigs. ”

“ Some botanists include this genus and that of Ostrya in the order Betulaceæ, instead of placing them in Cupuliferæ, as the nut of the Hornbeam is not surrounded by a cup or husk, but by a leaf-like involucre as shown in fig. 92, Fig. 92.—Fruit of the Hornbeam. at a, b being the nut. Both the male and the female flowers are produced in long catkins, which have an exceedingly light and elegant appearance on the tree. The male flowers consist each of one bract, with twelve or more stamens attached to its base ”

“ Hanbury says that this tree is peculiarly grateful to hares and rabbits; and if so, the planting of it among other trees and shrubs might be the means of saving them from being injured by these creatures. The Hornbeam preserves itself from the butting of the deer, by its mode of throwing out its branches; on this account it should be cultivated in parks, as well as for its beauty and shelter. The regular growth of the Hornbeam is referred to by Fawkes, in his Bramham Park:
Here spiry firs extend their lengthened ranks,
There violets blossom on the sunny banks ”

“ None other throws out so much heat or burns so steadily; though it is a curious fact that the hornbeam, belonging to a different genus from the beech, mimics it in its foliage, is nearly as patient of overhead shade, produces timber closely resembling that of beech in appearance and quality, and, as fuel, yields very nearly as much heat. ”

“ The special character of it was derived from the fact that by far the greater part was a wood of hornbeams, a tree not common save in Essex and Herts. It was certainly the biggest hornbeam wood in these islands, and I suppose in the world. The said hornbeams were all pollards, being shrouded every four or six years, and were interspersed in many places with holly thickets, and the result was a very curious and characteristic wood, such as can be seen nowhere [Pg 13] else. And I submit that no treatment of it can be tolerable which does not maintain this hornbeam wood intact. ”

“ It is not easy to state the average size of the hornbeam, though it is usually small and never very large. Sometimes it reaches a height of fifty or sixty feet and a diameter of two or more, but such sizes are unusual. Trees a foot in diameter and forty feet high are more common. The foliage is thin, and the tree is satisfied to grow in shade, provided the shadows are not too dense. The leaves must have a little sunshine, and the flecks that fall through the open spaces in the forest canopy high above, suffice. The hornbeam makes no effort to overtop its fellow trees ”

“ When raised from seed, the common Hornbeam acquires the usual magnitude of the beech, to which, as before stated, it is similar in its appearance. In the neighbourhood of London the rate of growth may be considered from twelve to eighteen inches a-year for the first ten years, and the tree will attain its full size in between fifty and sixty years; its longevity may be considered as equal to that of the beech. ”

“ Its outline against the sky in winter is most [Pg 72] delicate and pretty, the twigs are very slender, and are tipped with the three little pointing fingers of the catkins, and the whole tree produces a most pleasing effect. Although the hop hornbeam frequents the woods, it never makes even a small area its own. It is always found mixed with other trees, and I have never seen even a little grove of hop hornbeam trees growing alone. ”

“ Hornbeam has neither smell nor taste. It burns well, the embers glowing brightly in still air. The weight of a cubic foot of seasoned wood is fifty-one pounds. It is strong, hard, heavy, tough, and exceedingly durable when exposed to variable weather, or when in contact with the soil. It takes a beautiful polish. Trees more than a foot in diameter are often found to be hollow.
The wood is strong, hard, tough, durable in contact with the soil; heartwood light brown, tinged with red, or often nearly white; thick, pale sapwood which generally does not change to heart for forty or fifty years. ”

“ The Hornbeam's title to be considered indigenous has had some doubts thrown upon it because there are some records of specimens having been introduced during the fifteenth century, but that is not sufficient ground upon which to deny nationality. We have known persons to bring home from distant parts as treasures wild plants and ferns that were growing within a mile of their own homes. It appears to be a real native of the southern and midland counties of England, and of Wales. ”

“ The flowers grow in long catkins, staminate ones sometimes more than two inches long, covered with fringed scales. The pistillate catkins are usually shorter. Hornbeam blooms in April and May and its fruit ripens in August and September. The seed is a small nut equipped with balloon-like wings, intended for wind distribution. The seeds are often carried, rolled, and tumbled considerable distances. They keep on going until their wings are torn off or wear out, or until they become inextricably entangled among twigs or other obstacles. ”

“ The Hornbeam when full-grown is a much smaller tree than the Beech, rarely exceeding seventy feet in height, with a trunk circumference of ten feet; whereas the Beech reaches a height of considerably over a hundred feet, with a girth of nearly thirty feet. ”

“ Of all trees the hop hornbeam is the most retiring in its habits, and takes much the same place among trees that the hare does among animals, or the violet among flowers, living a secluded life in wild places, where the woods partially conceal its identity. ”

“ As a timber-tree the hornbeam is more esteemed on the Continent than in this country. It grows readily in stiff soils, particularly on the sides of hills; and is easily transplanted. The wood, which is white, hard, and tough, is used by turners; and is wrought into cogs for mill-wheels, screw-presses, the heads of beetles, handles of working tools, and other instruments and machinery in which great strength is required. As fuel it is preferred, on account of its readier inflammability, to most other kinds of wood. The inner bark is used, in some countries, for dyeing yellow. ”

“ The principal cereals are oats and wheat; potatoes are also largely grown. Much land is given over to pasture and the cultivation of various kinds of forage, and the fattening of cattle is a thriving agricultural industry. The Nivernais and Charolais are the chief breeds. The rearing of sheep and draught-horses is also of importance. Vines are grown in the valley of the Loire and in the neighbourhood of Clamecy. The white wines of Pouilly on the Loire are widely known. Nièvre abounds in forests, the chief trees being the oak, beech, hornbeam, elm and chestnut. ”

“ The hornet, one of my first favourites, has, to our minds, nothing mysterious like our glow-worm, and nothing serpentine or supernatural about him, but he is a nobler, more powerful and splendid creature than any dragon-fly. I care not to look at a vulgar wasp nor at any diurnal insect, however fine, when he is by, or his loud, formidable buzzing hum is heard. As he comes out of the oak-tree shade and goes {129} swinging by in his shining golden-red armature, he is like a being from some other hotter, richer land, thousands of miles away from our cold, white cliffs and grey seas. ”

“ The hornet is certainly not an abundant insect, nor very generally distributed. One may spend years in some parts of the country and never see it. I was lately asked by friends in Kent, who have their lonely house in a wooded and perhaps the wildest spot in the county, if the hornet still existed in England, or really was an English insect, as they had not seen one in several years. Now in the woods I frequent in the Forest I see them every day, and the abundance of the hornet is indeed for me one of the attractions of the place. ”

“ The horn-beam will thrive on poor, stiff soils, on barren and exposed hills; and, if intended for trees, it is propagated by seed, as soon as it is ripe. It vegetates eighteen months before the plants appear above ground; and the young trees are transplanted at the age of two years, to the spots where they are intended to remain. When designed for hedges and underwood, it is propagated by layers.
The horn-beam is a very valuable tree, and grows to a large size; its leaves afford a grateful food to cattle, but no grasses will flourish under its shade. ”

“ There hung the hornet's nest from the lower limb of an oak, so near the ground that it could be easily reached by one of the larger boys. It was gray in color and of enormous size. It resembled in shape an overgrown football or watermelon, pendant by one end. In some portions faint ridges were visible, like the prints left by tiny wavelets on the sand. Near the base was a circular opening about as large as an old-fashioned penny. This was the door of the hornets' residence, through which all the occupants came and went. ”

“ The hornbill is lively and active, leaping from bough to bough with great lightness, and appearing not to be in the least incommoded by its huge beak. Its flight is laborious, and when in the air the bird has a habit of clattering its great mandibles together, which together with the noise of the wings produces a weird sound. The food of the hornbill seems to consist of both animal and vegetable matters. We take our illustration from Wood's "Natural History."
Saw Tempering by Natural Gas. ”

“ Without further delay she flies off, carrying it between her feet. Having reached the nest she will mash it up and distribute it to the larvæ.
The hornet having seized a bee acts almost in the same way, but it is a giant of a robber, and the [130] fight cannot last long, despite the sting of the victim. Upon the very flower where the capture was made, or oftener on some twig of a neighbouring shrub, the hornet prepares its dish. First of all the bag of the bee is torn open, and the honey lapped up. ”

“ This interesting little hornet is a common summer species, known as the solitary hornet—one of them—Odynerus flavipes. The insect is about a half-inch in length, and to the careless observer might suggest a yellow-jacket, though the yellow is here confined to two triangular spots on the front of the thorax and three bands upon the abdomen.
Like the wren among birds, it is fond of building in holes, and will generally obtain them ready-made if possible. Burroughs has said of the wren that it "will build in anything that has a hole in it, from an old boot to a bombshell." ”