<5 2 TREE-PLANTING. 



to have been derived from Kastanea, a city in Pontus 

 in Asia, from whence it originally came. In Spain 

 it is grown chiefly for its fruit, which not only forms 

 a very principal item in the food of the peasantry of 

 that country, but is an article which is exported to 

 a considerable extent. At the time when a duty of 

 two shillings per bushel was imposed upon chestnuts, 

 the sum taken by the excise office, according to 

 McCulloch, during the three years ending 1831, 

 showed that the annual consumption in England 

 amounted to 20,948 bushels, and in 1842, 23,216 

 bushels, which were eaten as dessert. 



The tree is called Spanish chestnut, and the fruit 

 sweet, because the best chestnuts sold for table use 

 come from Spain, and to distinguish it from the fruit 

 of the horse chestnut, which is exceedingly bitter. 



It is said to have been brought to Europe by the 

 Greeks, from Sardis in Asia Minor, about 500 B.C., 

 and considered most likely that it was introduced 

 into Britain by the Romans, who performed a good 

 deal in this way for our island, and who were not the 

 mere conquerors they are often supposed, but were 

 civilisers. The tree being of great duration, and 

 ripening its fruit in favourable situations, became a 

 permanent inhabitant of England. 



The chestnut prefers a deep sandy loam, or rich 

 gravelly soil, when the subsoil is open and dry. 



As a park or lawn tree, though forming an 

 important element for picturesque effect, it is more 

 tender, and does not arrive at the height or diameter 

 of the oak. Its leaves are broad and long, of a serrated 

 appearance, dark-green and glossy, which change into 

 a mellow hue under the ripening influences of autumn. 



