CHICAGO, APRIL I, 1895, 



LARGE PRUITBD SWEET CHESTNUT AS GROWN AT DOSORIS 



The Fruit Garden. 



SWEET CHESTNUTS. 



Our illustration, engraved from a pho- 

 tograph of a European chestnut tree 

 taken at Dosoris last September, shows 

 what kind of a garden tree a chef tnut 

 makes. When in full leaf it is a fine orna- 

 ment, and when in bloom in summer its 

 hoary head is quite conspicuous, but when 

 the burrs begin to open in the fall and 

 show the big brown nuts it is a sight 

 worth seeing. The nuts are very large, 

 and the tree a sure and heav}' cropper. 

 It is a grafted plant, standard high like 

 an apple tree, about twenty years old. 



19 feet in height by 22 feet in spread of 

 branches. The pro.ximity of other trees 

 prevented us getting as good a picture of 

 it as we would like. Beautiful engrav- 

 ings of a dish of its nuts, also of nuts of 

 Paragon, Numbo and Japanese chestnuts, 

 engraved from photographs taken here 

 in '92 appeared in Oarde.nino March 

 15, '9.3. 



There are three kinds of chestnuts in 

 general cultivation, namely the. \merican, 

 which has the smallest and sweetest nuts 

 of all; the European, the parent of our 

 cultivated varieties, and the nut common 

 in our markets, and the Japanese. .Ml of 

 them are grown for sale by our nursery- 

 men. The .\nierican is usually raised 

 from seed, and wild trees of local excel- 

 lence are propagated in the same way or 



bv splice grafting. Of the European 

 chestnut we have several extra fine vari- 

 eties, such as Numbo and Paragon, that 

 are perpetuated by grafting on .\merican 

 seedlings. The finer Japanese sorts are 

 also grafted plants. Their advantage 

 consists in early bearing and large nuts. 

 This is the time to plant chestnut trees. 

 Send at once to the nursery for three 

 sorts, namely. Paragon, Xunibo and 

 Japan Giant. These have extra large 

 nuts. Be very careful of them in planting 

 not to let the roots get dry, for it is easy 

 to hurt them. Wherever a wild chestnut 

 tree will thrive a big fruited variety will 

 also grow. While they prefer good ground 

 any moderately fair land, even rock)' and 

 shady soil, will suit them. Prepare the 

 groimd forthcmas carefullvas vou would 



