CHAP, CV. CORYLA‘CEH. CASTA‘NEA. 1995 
especially to those who are subject to the cholick. The best way to preserve 
them is to keep them in earthern vessels in a cold place. Some lay them in 
a smoak-loft, others in dry barley straw, others in sand, &c.” (Hunt. Evel., 
vol. i. p. 163.) 
The principal countries where the chestnut is employed as an important 
article of food are, the south of France and the north of Italy; where it serves, 
in a great measure, as a substitute for both the bread and potatoes of more 
northern nations. In these countries, it becomes a matter of importance to 
preserve the chestnuts during winter; and, accordingly, great care is taken in 
gathering, keeping, and drying them, so as to insure a constant supply. 
When the chestnuts are ripe, those that are to be preserved are collected every 
day from the ground on which they have fallen from the tree; and spread out 
in a dry airy place, till the whole is gathered together. But, as it 1s often a 
considerable time before the chestnuts are all ripe enough to fall from the tree, 
if the season be so far advanced as to be in danger of snow or heavy rains, 
after the fallen chestnuts have been collected and set on one side for drying, 
the tree is beaten with long poles, to knock off the remaining fruit. This 
operation is called gauler les chdtaignes. But the fruit thus collected is only con- 
sidered fit for immediate use ; and the greater part of it is carried to the local 
market, or sent to Paris. The husks of the chestnuts beaten off the trees 
being generally attached to the nuts, they are trodden off by peasants furnished 
with heavy sabots, when the nuts are wanted for immediate use ; but, when the 
chestnuts are to be preserved a few months, they are generally kept in their 
husks in heaps in the open air, or in barrels of sand, which are sometimes 
actually sprinkled with water in very dry seasons, in order to preserve the full 
and plump appearance of the nuts, 
One of the modes of drying chestnuts, in order to preserve them for several 
years, is, to place those which have been collected from the ground on coarse 
riddles, sieves, or hurdles, in a dry airy place, and afterwards to expose them 
to the sun; or to boil them for a quarter of an hour, and then dry them in an 
oven. In Limousin and Périgord, where the chestnut flour is used for making 
the kind of cake called /a galette, and the thick porridge called /a polenta, which 
are the common food of the peasantry, the chestnuts are dried with smoke. 
A thin layer of nuts, which have been deprived of their outer husks, is laid on 
a kind of kiln pierced with holes; and a fire is made below with the husks, and 
part of the wood of the tree, which is only permitted to smoulder, and is not 
suffered to burst into a flame. In a short time, the chestnuts begin to sweat ; 
that is, their superabundant moisture oozes out through their skins. The fire 
is then immediately extinguished, and the chestnuts are suffered to become 
quite cold. They are then thrown on one side, and a fresh layer is spread out, 
and subjected to the same process. When a sufficient quantity of chestnuts 
is thus prepared, to cover the floor of the kiln at least 1 ft. deep, they are 
laid upon it, and a gentle fire is made below, which is gradually augmented 
during 2 or 3 days, and is then continued during 9 or 10 days, the chest- 
nuts being regularly turned, like malt, till the nuts part readily from their 
skins : they are then put into sacks, which have been previously wet, and 
thrashed with sticks, or rubbed upon a large bench or table; after which, they 
are winnowed, and are then ready for the mill. During the process of drying, 
the fire is watched night and day; and the under side of the floor of the kiln 
(or hurdles, if these have been used as a substitute for a paved floor) must 
be frequently swept, to clear it from the soot. The dust which escapes from 
the chestnuts, when they are winnowed, together with the broken nuts, are 
carefully preserved for feeding cattle, and are called in France biscat. 
The most general modes of cooking chestnuts in France are, boiling them 
in water, either simply, with a little salt, or with leaves of celery, sage, or any 
herbs that may be approved of, to give them a flavour; and roasting them, 
either in hot ashes, or in a coffee-roaster. They are also occasionally roasted 
before the fire, or on a shovel, as in England; but, when thus prepared, they 
are thought not so good. In whatever way the chestnuts are roasted, the 
