The genus Carpinis is widely distributed throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. There are nine species known to botanists, most of them being middle-sized trees. In addition to those mentioned below, figures of which are herewith given, there are four species from Japan and one from the Himalayan region which do not yet seem to have found their way to this country; these five are therefore omitted. All are deciduous trees, and every one is thoroughly deserving of cultivation. The origin of the English name is quaintly explained by Gerard in his "Herbal" as follows: "The wood," he says, "in time, waxeth so hard, that the toughness and hardness of it may be rather compared to horn than unto wood, and therefore it was called horne-beam or hardbeam."

CARPINUS ORIENTALIS.

Carpinus Betulus,1 the common hornbeam, as is the case with so many of our native or widely cultivated trees, exhibits considerable variation in habit, and also in foliage characters. Some of the more striking of these, those which have received names in nurseries, etc., and are propagated on account of their distinctive peculiarities, are described below. In a wild state C. Betulus occurs in Europe from Gothland southward, and extends also into West Asia. Although apparently an undoubted native in the southern counties of England, it appears to have no claim to be considered indigenous as far as the northern counties are concerned; it has also been planted wherever it occurs in Ireland.

CARPINUS AMERICANA.

Few trees bear cutting so well as the hornbeam, and for this reason, during the reign of the topiarist, it was held in high repute for the formation of the "close alleys," "covert alleys," or the "thick-pleached alleys," frequently mentioned in Shakespeare and in the works of other authors about three centuries ago. In the sixteenth century the topiary art had reached its highest point of development, and was looked upon as the perfection of gardening; the hornbeam - and indeed almost every other tree - was cut and tortured into every imaginable shape. The "picturesque style," however, soon drove the topiarist and his art out of the field, yet even now places still remain in England where the old and once much-belauded fashion still exists on a large scale - a fact by no means to be deplored from an archaeological point of view. Dense, quaintly-shaped hornbeam hedges are not unfrequent in the gardens of many old English mansions, and in some old country farmhouses the sixteenth century craze is still perpetuated on a smaller scale.

CARPINUS BETULUS, LEAF, CATKINS, AND FRUIT.

Sir J.E. Smith, in his "English Flora," after enumerating the virtues of the hornbeam as a hedge plant, gives it as his opinion that "when standing by itself and allowed to take its natural form, the hornbeam makes a much more handsome tree than most people are aware of." Those who are familiar with the fine specimens which exist at Studley Park and elsewhere will have no hesitation in confirming Sir J.E. Smith's statement. The Hornbeam Walk in Richmond Park, from Pembroke Lodge toward the Ham Gate, will recur to many Southerners as a good instance of the fitness of the hornbeam for avenues. In the walk in question there are many fine trees, which afford a thorough and agreeable shade during the summer months.

CARPINUS VIMINEA.

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. It is not injured by frost, and in Germany is often seen fringing the edges of the beech forests along the bottom of the valleys where the beech would suffer. Scarcely any tree coppices more vigorously or makes more useful pollards on dry grass land.

BRANCH OF CARPINUS BETULUS.

On account of its great toughness the wood of the hornbeam is employed in engineering work for cogs in machinery. When subjected to vertical pressure it cannot be completely destroyed; its fibers, instead of breaking off short, double up like threads, a conclusive proof of its flexibility and fitness for service in machinery (Laslett's "Timber and Timber Trees"). According to the same recent authority, the vertical or crushing strain on cubes of 2 inches average 14.844 tons, while that on cubes of 1 inch is 3.711 tons.

LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS QUERCOFOLIA.

A few years ago an English firm required a large quantity of hornbeam wood for the manufacture of lasts, but failed to procure it in England. They succeeded, however, in obtaining a supply from France, where large quantities of this timber are used for that purpose. It may be interesting to state that in England at any rate lasts are no longer made to any extent by hand, but are rapidly turned in enormous numbers by machinery. In France sabots are also made of hornbeam wood, but the difficulty in working it and its weight render it less valuable for sabotage than beech. For turnery generally, cabinet making, and also for agricultural implements, etc., this wood is highly valued; in some of the French winegrowing districts, viz., Côte d'Or and Yonne, hoops for the wine barrels are largely made from this tree. It makes the best fuel and it is preferred to every other for apartments, as it lights easily, makes a bright flame, which burns equally, continues a long time, and gives out an abundance of heat. "Its charcoal is highly esteemed, and in France and Switzerland it is preferred to most others, not only for forges and for cooking by, but for making gunpowder, the workmen at the great gunpowder manufactory at Berne rarely using any other.