170 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



spared. Nothing but the oak produces so superb an effect. 

 An old chestnut throws out arms almost as strong as the oak, 

 and its foliage forms as beautiful a mass and a thicker shade. 



The chestnut flourishes on rocky hills, where there is no great 

 depth of soil, on a surface difficult of tillage, and fit only for 

 pasture or forest. Of the many acres of this description in va- 

 rious parts of the State, especially in the middle counties, it is 

 to be hoped that a portion will be spared to this valuable and 

 rapidly growing tree. A circumstance which gives additional 

 value to this tree is, that the wood admits of a high polish, and 

 beautiful furniture may be made of it. 



The mode of cultivating the chestnut is similar to that for the 

 oak. It is successfully raised from the nuts, which, whether 

 they are to be sent to a distance, or to be reserved for eating, 

 should be gathered in the sunshine and exposed several days to 

 the direct rays of the sun. The chestnut may also be grafted 

 in any of the modes in use for other trees. 



The dwarf chestnut, a native of the Southern States, bears 

 the rigor of our winters and forms a shrub six or eight feet high. 

 It has a strong resemblance to the common chestnut, with leaves 

 and fruit much smaller. 



II. 4. THE HAZEL. CORYLUS. L. 



The hazels are shrubs, or, in the single instance of the Con- 

 stantinople hazel, C. Colurna, low trees, with alternate, entire 

 leaves, — common in the cooler zones of both hemispheres. The 

 male flowers, which come out very early, are in slender, cylin- 

 drical, pendulous aments; the female, in bud-like clusters, 

 bristling with the long, thread-like, colored stigmas. There is 

 one species, with many varieties, cultivated in Europe, one 

 small tree, belonging to Turkey, and two species native to this 

 country, the common, and the beaked hazel. The husk of the 

 common hazel resembles a cap, whence its English name from 

 the Saxon, hcesle, a cap, and also its botanical, from the Greek, 

 corys, a helmet. 



The hazels are readily propagated by sowing the nuts, by 

 suckers, and by layers. 



