THE CHESTNUT TREE. Castanea.

Nat. Ord. Corylaceæ. Lin. Syst. Monoecia, Polyandria.

The chestnut, for its qualities in Landscape Gardening, ranks with that king of the forest, the oak. Like that tree, it attains an enormous size, and its longevity in some cases is almost equally remarkable. Its fine massy foliage, and sweet nuts, have rendered it a favorite tree since a very remote period. Among the ancients, the latter were a common article of food.

"Sunt nobis mitia poma,

Castanea molles, et pressi copia lactis."

VIRG. ECL. 1.

They appear to have been in general use, both in a raw and cooked state. In times of scarcity, they probably supplied in some measure the place of bread-stuffs, and were thence highly valued:

"As for the thrice three angled beech nut shell,

Or Chestnut's armed huske and hid kernell,
No squire durst touch, the law would not afford,
Kept for the court, and for the king's own board."

Bp. Hall, Sat. B. III. 1.

Even to this day, in those parts of France and Italy nearest the great chestnut forests of the Appenines, these nuts form a large portion of the food which sustains the peasantry, where grain is but little cultivated, and potatoes almost unknown. There a sweet and highly nutritious flour is prepared from them, which makes a delicious bread. Large quantities of the fruit are therefore annually collected in those countries, and dried and stored

away for the winter's consumption. Old Evelyn says, the bread of the flour is exceedingly nutritive: it is a robust food, and makes women well complexioned, as I have read in a good author. They also make fritters of chestnut flour, which they wet with rose-water, and sprinkle with grated parmigans, and so fry them in fresh butter for a delicate." The fruit of the chestnut abounds in saccharine matter; and we learn from a French periodical, that experiments have been made, by which it is ascertained that the kernel yields nearly sixteen per cent. of good sugar.

As a timber tree, this is greatly inferior to the oak, being looser grained, and more liable to decay; and the American wood is more open to this objection than that produced on the opposite side of the Atlantic. It is, however, in general use among us, for posts and rails in fencing; and when the former are charred, they are found to be quite durable.

The finest natural situations for this tree appear to be the mountainous slopes of mild climates, where it attains the greatest possible perfection. Michaux informs us, that the most superb and lofty chestnuts in America are to be found in such situations, in the forests of the Carolinas. Abroad, every one will call to mind the far-famed chestnuts of Mount Etna, of wonderful age and extraordinary size. The great chestnut there, has excited the surprise of numerous travellers; at present, however, it appears to be scarcely more than a mere shell, the wreck of former greatness. When visited by M. Houel (Arboretum Brit.), it was in a state of decay, having lost the greater part of its branches, and its trunk was quite hollow. A house was erected in the interior, and some country people resided in

it, with an oven, in which, according to the custom of the country, they dried chestnuts, filberts, and other fruits, which they wished to preserve for winter use; using as fuel, when they could find no other, pieces cut with a hatchet from the interior of the tree. In Brydone's time, in 1770, this tree measured two hundred and four feet in circumference. He says it had the appearance of five distinct trees; but he was assured that the space was once filled with solid timber, and there was no bark on the inside. This circumstance of an old trunk, hollow in the interior, becoming separated so as to have the appearance. of being the remains of several distinct trees, is frequently met with in the case of very old mulberry trees in Great Britain, and olive trees in Italy. Kircher, about a century before Brydone, affirms that an entire flock of sheep might be inclosed within the Etna chestnut, as in a fold.* (Arboretum Brit. p. 1988.)

In considering the chestnut as highly adapted to ornament the grounds of extensive country residences, much that we have already said of the oak will apply to this tree. When young, its smooth stem, clear and bright foliage, and lively aspect, when adorned with the numerous light greenish yellow blossoms, which project beyond the mass of leaves, render it a graceful and beautiful tree.

* One of the most celebrated Chestnut trees on record, is that called the Tortworth Chestnut, in England. In 1772, Lord Ducie, the owner, had a portrait of it taken, which was accompanied by the following description: "The east view of the ancient Chestnut tree at Tortworth, in the county of Gloucester, which measures nineteen yards in circumference, and is mentioned by Sir Robert Aikins in his history of that county, as a famous tree in King John's reign and by Mr. Evelyn in his Sylva, to have been so remarkable in the reign of King Stephen, 1135, as then to be called the great Chestnut of Tortworth; from which it may reasonably be presumed to have been standing before the Conquest, 1066." This tree is still standing.

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It has long been a favorite with the poets for its grateful shade; and as the roots run deep, the soil beneath it is sufficiently rich and sheltered to afford an asylum for the minutest beauties of the woods. Tennyson sweetly says:

"That slope beneath the chestnut tall
Is wooed with choicest breaths of air,
Methinks that I could tell you all

The cowslips and the king cups there."

When old, its huge trunk, wide-spread branches, lofty head, and irregular outline, all contribute to render it a picturesque tree of the very first class. In that state, when standing alone, with free room to develope itself on every side, like the oak, it gives a character of dignity, majesty, and grandeur, to the scene, beyond the power of most trees to confer. It is well known that the favorite tree of Salvator Rosa, and one which was most frequently introduced with a singularly happy effect into his wild and picturesque compositions, was the chestnut; sometimes a massy and bold group of its verdure, but oftener an old and storm-rifted giant, half leafless, or a barren trunk coated with a rich verdure of mosses and lichens.

The chestnut in maturity, like the oak, has a great variety of outline; and no trees are better fitted than these for the formation of grand groups, heavy masses, or wide outlines of foliage. A higher kind of beauty, with more dignity and variety, can be formed of these two genera of trees when disposed in grand masses, than with any other forest trees of temperate climates; perhaps we may say of any climate.

There is so little difference in the common Sweet chestnut (Castanea vesca) of both hemispheres, that they

are generally considered the same species. Varieties have been produced in Europe, which far surpass our common chestnuts of the woods in size, though not in delicacy and richness of flavor. Those cultivated for the table in France, are known by the name of marrons. These improved sorts of the Spanish chestnut bear fruit nearly as large as that of the Horse-chestnut, inferior in sweetness, when raw, to our wild species, but delicious when roasted. The Spanish chestnut thrives well, and forms a large tree, south of the Highlands of the Hudson, but is rather tender north of this neighborhood. A tree. in the grounds at Presque Isle, the seat of William Denning, Esq., Dutchess Co., is now 40 feet high. They may be procured from the nurseries, and we can hardly recommend to our planters more acceptable additions to our nut-bearing forest trees.

The Chinquapin, or Dwarf chestnut (C. pumila), is a curious low bush, from four to six feet high. The leaves are nearly the size of the ordinary chestnut, or rather smaller, and the fruit about two-thirds as large. It is indigenous to all the states south of Pennsylvania, and is often found in great abundance. It is a curious little tree, or more properly a shrub, and merits a place in the garden ; or it may be advantageously planted for underwood in a group of large trees.

As the chestnut, like the oak, forms strong tap-roots, it is removed with some difficulty. The finest trees are produced from the nut, and their growth is much more rapid when young, than that of the transplanted tree. It prefers a deep sandy loam, rather moist than dry; and will not, like many forest trees, accommodate itself to wet and low situations.