1981- AllUUllETUM AND FRUTICLTUM. 1>AKT 111. 



Varieties, These may be arranged in two classes j those which arc considered 

 botanical varieties, and those v> hich are cultivated on account ol" their fruit. 

 A. Bolanicttl Varieties. 



S C. f. 2 asj^lcnifolia Lodd. Cat., IS.'JG ; C. heterophylla Ilorl. ; C. laciuiata 

 Hart, ; C. ialiciiolia Hurl., has the leaves cut into shreds, regularly, 

 or irregularly, and sonietiuies so as to appear like linear-lanceolate 

 leaves J and hence the epithet otialicifolia. 



5! C. V. 3 cochledla Lodd. Cat., lK.J(i, has the leaves cuculate, or hooded, 

 with a diseased stunted appearance. 



"i C. V. \ gliihra Lodd. Cat., iH.'iG ; C. v. foliis lucidus Hurt.; has the leaves 

 rather thin, and more shining than those ot" the species. 



? C. f . 5 gldiica, C. glaiica llort., has the leaves somewhat glaucous. 



1 C. u. vnricgdta; C. v. foliis aureis Lodd. Cat., 1836; has the leaves vari- 

 egated with yellow, with some streaks of" white; and the tree, when 

 of" a larger si/e, makes a splendid appearance in spring, and is admi- 

 rably adapted for planting among evergreen shrubs, along with the 

 balsam poplar ; the colour of which, when the leaves first expand, 

 has all the rich yellow of this variety, with the advantage of being 

 associated in the mind with ideas of health; whereas variegation is 

 known to be generally the effect ot" diseate. 



t G.v.l amcricdna ; C. vesca Michx. X. Aincr. St/L, iii. p. 9. — This variety 

 has broader leaves than the European chestnut. 



B. Fruit-l/earing Varieties, 



In the French catalogues these are very numerous ; and in De ChabroPs 

 StaHslifjiics de Savaiie, 6cc., it is stated that between 40 and oO varieties are 

 cultivated in the [)rovince of Mondovi, in Piedmont. ( See Gard. J\lag., vol. i. 

 p. 322.) There are upwards of 20 sorts cultivated in the London Horti- 

 cultural Society's (iarden, of which Mr. Thompson considei's the four fol- 

 lowing as deserving the preference for ornamental cultivation : — Cha- 

 taignitr prime, C. lialkic, the Downton Chestnut, and Prolific Chestnut. 



Besides these there ai'e the following English sorts : — Devonshire, Lewis's, 

 Lisbon, Masters's, Canterbury, Knight's Prolific, and the New Prolific. 

 The nurserymen in the south of Devonshire, and in Jersey, generally pay 

 more attention to the sweet chestnut, as a fruit tree, than the nurserymen in 

 the neighbourhood of London. There is said to be a tree of a very superior 

 variety in a garden in St. Peter's parish, Jersey, from which, it is believed, 

 plants are projjagated in Saunders's Nursery, in that island. (See Gard. 

 Mag., vol. vii. p. 101.) 



The varieties cultivated in France for the table are divided into two kinds, 

 viz., Ics chdtaigncs and les marrons ; the former being to the latter what the 

 crab is to the api)le. The latter are, of course, much [)referred, being larger, 

 more farinaceous, and sweeter. When roasted, they have also a rich creamy 

 Havour, ami an aromatic odour, in which the conuuon chestnuts are quite 

 deficient. The best marrons sold in l^wis are the marrons de L\ons; and 

 the best kinds of the common chestnut are : — La chataigue de Bois, the 

 fruit of which is small, will not keep, and is of little flavour; and the tree 

 forms the principal coppice-wooil in the neighbourhood of Paris : la Cha- 

 taigrie ordinaire, of which the fruit is rather bitter, and the tree more 

 vigorous, anil a greater bearer : la Chataigue pourtalonne, the fruit of which 

 is very fine, and proiluced in great abundance : la Chataigue printauiere, 

 the fruit of which has no other merit than that of being produced very early 

 in the season : la C!hataignc verte du Limousin, which produces very large 

 excellent fruit, which wUl keep a long time, and the tree of which preserves 

 its leaves green much longer than'any of the other varieties : and la Cha- 

 taigne exaladc, the fruit ol" which is the best of all the common chestnuts 

 for the table; but the tree, which is low, with spreading i)ranches, is such 

 an abundant bearer, that it soon exhausts itself". i^Lv BonJard. 1837.) 

 Drxcnp/ion, <Src. The chestnut, umler favourable circumstances, is a mag- 

 nificent tree, though it never attains a height, or (hameter of head, equal to 



