CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CEH. CASTA‘NEA. 1991 
useful as a fruit tree than for its timber. The wood of the chestnut, how- 
ever, has the remarkable property of being more durable when it is young 
than when it is old; the sap or outer wood very soon changing into heart 
wood; and hence the great value of this tree for posts, fencing-poles, stakes, 
hoops, &c. The wood, when green, weighs 68 lb. 90z. per cubic foot; and 
when dry, 41lb. 20z. According to some authors, however, it weighs, when 
dry, 48lb. The wood is easily distinguished from that of the oak, by the 
transverse fibres being more confused, and much less evident to the naked eye, 
more especially in a section newly cut ; so that, to ascertain whether a plank 
of timber is oak or chestnut, it is only necessary to saw off a thin slice at one 
of its extremities. Bosc agrees in this, and draws as a conclusion from it, 
that the annual layers of the wood not being freely united together by trans- 
verse fibres, must necessarily be liable to separate, and to become subject to 
the disease which is called, in France, cadranure (literally, dialling). This 
disease cannot be discovered till the tree is cut down; when it is found to be 
open at the heart, with rents radiating from its centre towards the circum- 
ference ; in consequence of which the wood is unfit for being sawn into either 
planks or beams, and can only be employed for laths or fencing. Bosc found 
that of the trunks of 30 chestnut trees, about 1 ft. in diameter, which he had 
seen cut down and squared in the forest of Montmorency, there were 20 in 
the diseased state above described. Hence, he says, we seldom find any trunks 
of old chestnut trees, because this peculiarity in their organisation not only 
unfits them for every purpose of carpentry or joinery, but occasions them to 
decay from the centre outwards. To us it appears probable that this organ- 
isation, by lessening the communication of the juices of the tree in a horizontal 
direction, may also be the cause why the sap wood so soon becomes heart 
wood. Be that as it may, it is clear that all that has been said in favour of 
planting the chestnut for its timber can only rank, in point of authority, with 
what has been said respecting planting the locust for the same purpose. The 
French writers state that chestnut wood is a good deal used for making wine- 
casks ; a circumstance noticed by Rapin, in his poem entitled The Garden: — 
“ With close-grain’d chestnut, wood of sov’reign use, 
For casking up the grape’s most powerful juice.” 
Wine is said to ferment in chestnut casks more slowly, and be less likely to 
evaporate: it also does not contract any unpleasant taste. There is scarcely 
any wood, according to Du Hamel, which makes better hoops, as these resist 
the dry rot in cellars where every other kind of wood decays. Du Hamel 
observes, at the same time, that chestnut wood decays speedily, when it is 
subjected alternately to dryness and moisture. (Exploit de Bois, p. 296.) 
Varennes de Fenille, on the other hand, states that, in La Bresse, posts of 
chestnut are preferred to those of every other wood for forming the supports 
of huts, notwithstanding these posts are subjected to the action of alternate 
humidity and dryness. The wood of the chestnut is not much approved of 
as fuel : it throws out sparks, and smoulders in the fire rather than flames ; 
though it gives out a great deal of heat. The charcoal, though good, is not 
of the first quality: it is inferior to that of the oak for domestic purposes, and 
for iron founderies; but, according to Bosc, and most other Continental writers, 
it is superior to that of oak, or any other wood, for forges; and it is much 
used for that purpose in Biscay and in Spain. In Switzerland, chestnut wood 
is equally valued for forges; but, the tree being rare there, the charcoal is very 
dear. (Hist. Nat. du Jorat, i. p. 9.) The same thing, Michaux informs us, is 
the case in North America. The ashes of the wood of the chestnut furnish 
a great deal of potash. The bark, especially of young trees, is used for tan- 
ning; but it only sells for half the price of that of oak. The Jeaves, in country 
places in France, are used as litter for cattle; and, when dried, they are em- 
ployed, like those of the beech, by the poor, for stuffing mattresses. ‘“ But 
those leafy beds,” Evelyn observes, “ for the crackling noise they make when 
one turns upon them, the French call licts de parliament.” (Hunt. Evel., i. 
