THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 37 



soil, is generally round-topped, having a well-balanced 

 head during its early maturity, and is altogether a 

 very handsome tree. It is easily propagated from the 

 nut, which bursts out of its prickly shell when ripe, 

 and grows very quickly. In moist and undisturbed 

 situations, these will often strike and take root when 

 dropped from the tree, and its cultivation is very 

 simple and easy. The horse chestnut (^Esculus 

 hippocastanum] is supposed to have been introduced 

 into this country from the Levant (the " Orient " of 

 the French, the " Morgenland " of the Germans, 

 paraphrases of the " East ") about the middle of the 

 sixteenth century. As a lawn tree it forms a most 

 beautiful object with its handsome blossoms. After 

 the foliage begins to expand, the tree is remarkable 

 for the rapidity with which it forms its whole season's 

 growth, which it effects in three or four \veeks. The 

 young wood being thus matured early in the season, 

 renders the tree well adapted to endure cold and 

 unfavourable situations, though it will only blossom 

 abundantly in warm and sheltered positions, a high 

 degree of temperature being necessary to expand 

 them. 



The seedlings should be transplanted into nursery 

 lines, at one or two years of age, and then removed 

 every third year, increasing the space in which they 

 stand. By this means the fibrous nature of the roots, 

 after being frequently transplanted, allows it to be 

 removed in safety when it has attained a larger size 

 than most trees, by which means an avenue of fair 

 sized trees could be obtained in very little time, or a 

 handsome object planted upon a lawn, or wherever it 

 might be required. 



