BOTANICAL GAZETE. i6o 



the east, did not fail to bring back with them at least a few chestnuts 

 to plant. The cabins being few and far between, the seed in this 

 way became tolerably evenly sprinkled over the whole cuunty. Tliose 

 of us who are germain to the soil have no fond recollections of the 

 surroundings of an eastern home to cherish ; consequently this impor- 

 tation stopped with the days of our sires. The result is that, scattered 

 over the county at the sites of the earliest log-cabins, the chestnut tree 

 has reared its head as a monument of the days when the white man 

 and Indian contended for the right of possession. 



I have been able to learn the history of 17 trees, and this is prob- 

 ' ably all to be found in the limits of the county. The following notes 

 have been made either from personal observations or from persons 

 who are thoroughly reliable and familiar with the history ; and in 

 some cases the very individuals were consulted who planted the seeds. 

 I will commence at the west side of the county and pass eastward, 

 taking the trees seriatim. 



No. I was on the F. M. Rigg farm. It grew from seed from 

 Virginia, and when it was cut down, several years since, it was over 

 18 inches in diameter, and bore an abundance of sterile burs, occa- 

 sionally a few nuts being found, never more than three or four during 

 a season. No trte of any size nearer than three miles while it was 

 standing. 



No. 2. — Mr. T. Rigg has a tree on his place which he has grown 

 from seeds from No. 4. It bore three sterile crops of burs He then 

 grafted on it two twigs taken from No. 3. The first year the grafts 

 bloomed (they being about 18 mches long) and the tree bore about 

 three pints of nuts. Most of them grew near the grafts, which were 

 on I pposite sides of the tree, but a few nuts were scattered in all parts 

 of the tree top. Last spring the grafts did not bloom, and this fall 

 the abunda-nt crop of burs were all empty. Nearest tree is five miles 

 away (No. 4). 



No. 3 grew on the J. Beall lot, in Mt. Carmel. It was over 18 

 inches in diameter when il was blown down by the cyclone, June 4, 

 1876. It was grown from the same lot of seed as Nos. 4 and 7. For 

 years it yielded abundant crops of burs, but not a chestnut was ever 

 found under it, so far as I can learn. Nearest tree two miles (No. 7). 



No. 4 is a group of seven thrifty trees growmg on the Wm. Davis 

 farm, from seeds from Ohio, planted fortv one years since — the same 

 lot as those that grew Nos. 3 and 7. They measure in circumference, 

 two feet from the ground, 37, 37, 49, 55 and 71 inches, and are near 

 one hundred feet high. (A pear tree near by, planted at the same 

 time, is 80 inches in circumference.) All bear in abundance, and it 

 is very seldom that a sterile bur is found. These trees are one mile 

 from No. 5. 



No. 5 is a thrifty tree on A. Woods' farm, and is from fruit from 

 No. 4. It is near thirty years old and bears more or less chestnuts 

 every year, but the crop of empty burs invariably exceeds that of the 

 filled. Is one mile from No. 4, in a northwestern direction. 



No. 6 grew on the J. Woods' farm, and was one-half mile north- 



