CHESTNUT HAZEL. 263 



was formerly very much, used for goblets, platters, scab- 

 bards, &c. Cowley mentions it : 



" Hence in the world's best years the humble shed 

 Was happily and fully furnished. 



Beech made their chests, their beds, and their join'd stools; 

 Beech made the boards, the platters, and the bowls." 



Boys eat Beech-nuts when they cannot get Hazel-nuts, and 

 they form good food for pigs. 



A great many Chestnuts grow about Hawkhurst. The large 

 leaves of the tree are lance- shaped, and very evenly toothed ; 

 they are of a bright green. The male and female flowers grow 

 on the same spike, the latter at the lower end of it. The fruit 

 is contained in a very prickly calyx, resembling a hedgehog. 

 All kinds of good things are made out of Chestnuts. First of 

 all, they are not bad eaten raw ; secondly, they are excellent 

 roasted ; thirdly a splendid soup is made of them, ditto curry ; 

 and fourthly, you cannot cook them amiss. The Italians make 

 porridge of them, and call it Polenta, and I should have no 

 objection to sup with them upon it ; they also use them as 

 Potatoes. The Latin name, Castanea, is derived from Casta- 

 nium, a town in Thessaly, where these trees grew abundantly. 

 Chambers' poet thought very highly of the Chestnut. He 



writes : 



41 Thou, O Chestnut! richly branched, 



Standest in thy might ; 

 Rising like a leafy tower 



In the summer light; 

 And thy branches are fruit-laden, 



Waving bold and free, 

 And the beams upon thee shed 

 Are like blessings on thy head : 

 Thou art strong, and fair, and fruitful, for thou 

 Art the good man's tree." 



The wood of the Chestnut is very valuable, closely resem- 

 bling Oak, and only second to the Oak for carpenters' use. 

 It is grown in Kent for Hop-poles (F. castanea, Plate XV., 

 fig. 5). 



Who does not love the Hazel ? Little children rejoice over 



