Book I. CHESTNUT. ?43 



the small kind above mentioned be skilfully inserted in such parts of branches of rapid growth, they will 

 be found to succeed with nearly as much certainty as those of other fruit-trees, provided such buds be in 

 a more mature state than those of the stocks into \vhich they are inserted." 



4738. Carlisle (Hort. Trans, ii.) mentions the case of a walnut-tree raised from the nut in the usual way, 

 on a light soil, on a sandy sub-soil, and in a warm sheltered situation, which produced fruit in six years ; 

 but the usual period is eighteen or twenty. 



4739. Abercrombie says, the walnut-tree is propagated, in general, by sowing well ripened nuts of the 

 finest varieties : but as seedlings are apt to vary, new plants are occasionally raised by layers and inarch- 

 ing, to continue particular sorts permanent. The nuts may be sown in autumn or spring, in drills, nine 

 to twelve inches apart, and two or three inches deep ; place the nuts two inches asunder, and having 

 earthed them in, smooth the surface. They will come up in the spring. When of one year's growth, set 

 out the plants in nursery rows, a foot asunder by six inches in the rows, to remain two years, then to be 

 transplanted (doubling the distance) into other nursery lines. Train each with a single stem of six or 

 seven feet high : then to be permitted to branch out above, and form a spreading head. Layers may be 

 made, in autumn or spring, of young shoots produced near the ground from proper stools formed for that 

 purpose : they will be rooted in one season, to plant off in nursery rows for training as above. Inarching 

 may be performed in February or March upon seedling walnut-stocks, advanced in proper stems. 



4740. Soil and site. The walnut-tree will succeed in any common fertile soil, a light or a clayey loam, 

 so as the sub-soil be dry, and the site a little sheltered ; but it thrives best where there is a good depth of 

 loam mixed with sand or gravel rather than clay. As this tree is long before it bears fruit, there is a 

 particular inducement for procuring plants from the nursery, either inarched, budded, or in as advanced 

 a stage as it will be safe to remove them at. This may be when they are from eight to twelve years old, 

 according as they may have been prepared by repeated transplantations. Walnut-trees may be planted in 

 orchards or small paddocks, in a row towards the boundaries ; or in parallel double rows in a quincunx 

 order, in extensive grounds, but detached from fruit-trees of more contracted growth. The line of walnut- 

 trees, when fully grown, will serve as a screen to the fruit-trees occupying the interior ground. The 

 plants should stand at twenty-five and the trees to fifty feet distance. 



4741. Mode of bearing. On the extremities of the preceding year's shoots. 



4742. Pruning. Walnut-trees, when finally planted, may be permitted to branch out in their natural 

 order, with the exception of a little occasional pruning, to regulate any casual disorderly growth, to re- 

 duce over-extending branches, and to prune up the low stragglers. 



4743. Ringing to induce bearing, is practised by the Baron de Tschoudi, near Metz, in Lorraine. A 

 zone of bark two inches broad is taken out, and the part plastered over with cow-dung and loam ; the 

 consequence is that the trees prove more prolific, and the fruit ripens sooner. 



4744. Taking the crop. Walnuts should be taken for pickling while the internal parts remain tender 

 and fleshy, which may be ascertained by probing them with a pin or needle. The nuts are ripe in Sep- 

 tember and October, and should then be gathered so as not to injure the tree, and housed in the proper 

 manner for winter use. 



Subsect. 2. Chestnut. — Fagus Castanea, L. ; Castanea Vesca, W. (Eng. Bot. 886.) 

 Moneec. Poly. L. and Amentacece, J. Chdtaigne, Fr. ; Castanienbaum, Ger. ; and 

 Castagno, Ital. 



4745. The chestnut is a large tree, spreading its branches finely on every side where it 

 has room, but, planted closely, will shoot up straight to a great height. The leaves are 

 lanceolate, serrated, and very large. The aments, or catkins, of male flowers are pendu- 

 lous at the ends of the branches ; very long, resembling those of the walnut. They have 

 a strong spermatic smell ; the flowers are collected in remote little balls, and are sessile. 

 The proportion of male flowers to the females is prodigious. The calyx of the female 

 flowers becomes an echinate capsule or four valves, of a silky smoothness in the inside, 

 and containing two or three nuts or one only. It flowers in May, and ripens its fruit 

 in October. It is supposed to have been originally brought from Sardis to Italy by Tib. 

 Ca?sar. It is so common as to be considered a native in France and Italy ; and some 

 consider it as naturalised in England, though it is not likely to propagate itself in this 

 country. Some of the oldest trees in the world are of this species ; as that mentioned by 

 Brydone on Etna, and the great tree at Tortworth in Gloucestershire. 



4746. The. The fruit is a desirable nut for autumn and winter, and is eaten roasted, 

 with salt, and sometimes raw. Abroad, it is not only boiled and roasted, but puddings, 

 cakes, and bread are made of it. " Chestnuts stewed with cream," according to Phillips 

 (Pomarium Brit. 95.), " make a much admired dish, and many families prefer them to 

 all other stuffings for turkeys." He says, " I have had them stewed and brought to table 

 with salt fish, when they have been much admired." The timber was formerly in very 

 general use in house-carpentry, though some, with every appearance of reason, consider 

 what is generally called old chestnut as old oak. 



4747. Varieties. There are none of any note. Some varieties ripen their fruit a few days earlier than 

 others, but none of these have been fixed on and perpetuated by the nurserymen so as to be rendered 

 available by purchasers. 



4748. Propagation. Miller and most gardeners recommend propagation from nuts ; but, for fruit, the 

 Devonshire practice of grafting is decidedly preferable. Sir Joseph Banks says, " the nurserymen there 

 deal in grafted chestnut-trees ;" and we may add, that they are now to be had in the London nurseries. (Hort. 

 Trans, i. 62.) Knight says, " The Spanish chestnut succeeds readily when grafted in almost any of the 

 usual ways, and when the grafts are taken from bearing branches, the young trees afford blossoms in the 

 succeeding year ; and I am much inclined to think, from experiments I have made on this tree, that by 

 selecting those varieties which ripen their fruit, early in the autumn, and by propagating with grafts or 

 buds from young and vigorous trees of that kind, which have just attained the age necessary to enable 

 them to bear fruit, it might be cultivated with much advantage in this country, both for its fruit and 

 timber." (Hort. Trans, i. 62.) 



4749. Soil and site. The tree prefers a sandy loam with a dry bottom ; but will grow in any soil on a dry 

 sub-soil. Distribute the plants towards the northern boundary of orchards ; and in larger groups, over any 

 vacant tracts in extensive pleasure-grounds or parks, and to form spacious avenues, or a row along any 

 out -boundary. A great number should not be placed close to a residence, as the smell of the flowers is 

 offensive. Plant them at not less than thirty feet, and thence to fifty feet distance. 



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