0UR illustration, page 591, shows a good specimen of the purple or copper beech growing upon the grounds of F. W. Bruggerhof (of the firm of J. M. Thorburn & Co.), at Stamford, Ct. The purple beech is one of the most satisfactory of all purple-leaved trees because of the permanence of its character, and the fact that the tree possesses other merits than mere color. All the purple-leaved trees change color more or less during the season, and the copper beech is no exception to the rule. Yet even in mid-summer it retains a dark and rich foliage quite unlike that of its parent, the European beech, or its American congener. It is said that the tree thrives best and holds its color best along the seaboard, and it is certainly true that the finest specimens are to be found in that section ; but this may be due to the fact that they were earliest planted about the easternmost cities, and have attained sufficient age to show their full beauties. But we have seen fine specimens in the nurseries of western New York, some of them as large and good as the one shown in the illustration.

The purple beech varies much in color, especially when grown from seed. There is a most remarkable example of this in a copse of these trees attached to one of the old nurseries in Geneva, N. Y. In the spring this plantation presents a wonderful combination and variation of color.