THE HOESE-CHESTNUT. 



THE Horse-Chestnut I would compare with the locust 

 on account of their difference, not their resemblance. 

 Like the locust, it is remarkable for the beauty of its 

 flowers, though even in this respect the trees are of an 

 opposite character ; the one bears them in upright pyra- 

 mids, the other in pendent racemes. Those of the locust 

 are half closed and modest in their colors of white 

 and brown ; those of the Horse-Chestnut are wide open 

 and somewhat flaring, though of a delicate rose-color and 

 white. While in blossom the tree is unsurpassed in its 

 beautiful display of flowers, that " give it the appearance 

 of an immense chandelier covered with innumerable 

 girandoles." 



After all, we can bestow very little praise upon the 

 Horse-Chestnut, except for its flowers. The foliage of the 

 tree displays neither lightness, nor elegance, nor bril- 

 liancy of verdure, nor autumnal tinting, nor any flowing 

 beauty of outline. On the contrary, it is homely and 

 heavy, though it affords a very deep shade. .Indeed, 

 when we view a Horse-Chestnut from a moderate distance, 

 the arrangement of its leaves give it a very pleasing 

 tufted appearance, unlike what we see in any other spe- 

 cies. George Barnard says of it : " This cannot be called 

 a picturesque tree, its shape being very formal ; but the 

 broad masses of foliage, although too defined and unbroken 

 to be agreeable to the painter, are grand and majestic when 

 seen in an avenue or in groups." 



As a shade-tree, or a tree for avenues and pleasure- 



