20 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Forest Trees of Rhode Island. 



BY L. W. RUSSELL. 

 No. XII. 

 Gustanea — The Chestnut. 

 The common chestnut tree, Castanea i 

 vesca, is closely allied to the oaks, Qnerctis. ! 

 It is abundant in Rhode Island. Many of i 

 the rock}- hills and ridges in Providence and | 

 Kent counties, are still growing large lots , 

 of chestnut trees. They sprout readily from 

 the stumps of felled trees, and grow very 

 rapidly. A growth of twenty-five 3'ears 

 will give two or three cuts large enough for 

 railroad ties. There are numerous lots in 

 the state which have been cut several times 

 and the latest growth is still vigorous. \ 

 The soil of the state, in general, is well 

 adapted for producing this tree. It will 

 flourish well in light sand}', or gravelly 

 soils, but does better upon rocky hills where 

 the roots can penetrate the crevices, or 

 anchor themselves among the stones. It is 

 a stately ti'ee when fully grown. Sixty to 

 eighty feet is not an uncommon height in 

 the forest, wdiere it grows without limbs, 

 except a few short ones at the top. In open 

 grounds it spreads widel}', growing in fav- 

 ored situations to large size. Observers of 

 trees will call to mind single specimens now 

 standing, having bodies from fifteen to 

 twenty feet in circumference, near the 

 ground, and from fifty to eighty feet in 

 height. The spread is often as great as its 

 height. At the distance of an eighth of a 

 mile or more, the tree has a peculiarly 

 sturd}' appearance. The limbs are large 

 and stiff, the whole top appearing as though 

 it had been under the gardener's shears. 

 This characteristic alone will enable one to 

 identify the tree at a long distance. 



The bark of this tree is thick and firm, 

 on young trees smooth, brown in color, 

 with a greenish tinge ; but from ten or 

 twelve years of age, dividing by long fur- 

 rows, growing deeper and wider with age. 

 On old open, grown trees, the bark is very 

 rough and thick. 



The leaf of the chestnut is conspicuous 

 for its large size, its prominent parallel 

 veins ending in long bent points, separated 

 by large curved indentations. The leaves 

 are of a lively polished green above, paler 

 beneath, turning to orange or buff color in 

 autumn. The foliage is abundant and 



noticeable for the radiated tufts of leaves 

 near tlie ends of the branches. 



The male or sterile flowers are in bunches 

 of stiff' catkins, long as the leaves, very 

 conspicuous, emitting a profuse, and to 

 most people a disagreeable odor. The 

 flowers are arranged in groups along the 

 stalk of the catkin. The fertile flowers are 

 in little bunches in the axils of the upper 

 leaves, afterwards developing into burrs con- 

 taining the fruit. The}' are seen single, or 

 two or more near each other. The fruit is 

 too famiUar to need description. 



The fruit as grown in Rhode Island, is 

 generally smaller and inferior to that grown 

 farther from the sea-coast, although it is 

 sometimes abundant. 



The wood, although containing only about 

 one-half the heating power of hickor}', is 

 valuable for charcoal, and makes excellent 

 kindlings. For timber, as applied to vari- 

 ous uses, it is of great value. The grain is 

 handsome in furniture, it is verj' durable and 

 is suflficientl}' tough and elastic for many 

 uses. But few native trees will grow to a 

 size fit for use so quickl}'. A natural chest- 

 nut forest ground is a valuable piece of 

 property. The crop is sure of growth, 

 certain of sale ; and man}- now sterile, ut- 

 terly profitless tracts of New England land 

 might be planted with chestnuts with cer- 

 tainty of good pa}' for the labor. 



It may be mentioned that the Spanish 

 Chestnut, so called, is not regarded as a 

 diflferent species from our own, although the 

 fruit is much larger, and also greatly infe- 

 rior in quality to ours. The Spanish Chest- 

 nut is largely cultivated in southern and 

 centi'al Europe, the fruit forming an impor- 

 tant article of diet for the poorer classes of 

 people. 



The dwarf chestnut of the central and 

 southern states of our own country, is a 

 mere shrub, there being but a single oval 

 nut in a burr, which is very sweet. 



The writer would suggest that orchards 

 of our native chestnut trees, planted from 

 the best varieties (and they differ much in 

 size and quality of fruit) might prove as 

 profitable an investment as orchards of 

 some other fruit trees. 



Pkoviuence will soon celebrate, at con- 

 siderable expense, its two hundred and fif- 

 tieth anniversary. Still we have not a pub- 

 lic museum or art gallery. 



