166 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



now growing in Europe, are not considered suitable food for 

 man. Those which furnish so large a portion of the food of 

 all classes, in the southern countries of Europe, and an im- 

 portant article of export, are cultivated varieties, with larger 

 and sweeter nuts. This is an important fact. The nuts of 

 the American tree are decidedly superior in flavor to most of 

 those cultivated in Europe, but are much smaller, hardly a 

 fourth part the size of the larger ones. Size and improved 

 quality are the consequence of cultivation. By selecting the 

 most valuable varieties of our native trees, and improving them 

 by the arts of culture, we may hereafter obtain fruit superior to 

 any now known. The extraordinarily rapid growth of the 

 chestnut tree will give great facilities for the improvement of 

 the species ; and the abundance of the harvest from trees, 

 affords another security against the failure incident to crops 

 from bad seasons. The valuable varieties of the foreign tree 

 may be introduced by grafting, or by planting. The grafts, or 

 plants, of the most desirable kinds, may be readily imported 

 from the nurseries of France and England ; and they may be 

 found already growing in Winship's and other nurseries in 

 this State. 



The wood of the chestnut is coarse-grained, the circles of 

 growth being separated by numerous large pores or rather tubes ; 

 but it is strong and elastic, and very durable, even when ex- 

 posed to alternations of dryness and moisture. It is, therefore, 

 of great value for posts, which, when charred, will last more 

 than twenty years, and for rails, in which form it will last half a 

 century. It is also much used, as a substitute for oak and pine, 

 in building; beams and joists, and other parts of the frame made 

 of it, being almost imperishable. It is used for shingles, but is 

 less valuable for this purpose, on account of its warping when 

 exposed to heat. It is extensively employed in the manufac- 

 ture of furniture. In the frame-work of articles to be covered 

 with veneers of mahogany or other ornamental wood, it stands 

 better than any other native wood. The frames of bureaus 

 and sofas, and the bottom and sides of drawers are made of it. 

 For these purposes much of it is brought into Boston from 

 Worcester County. It has been sometimes used for hoops, but 



