92 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



indiscriminately with oak, in the construction of houses, 

 in mill-work, and in household furniture. Many plan- 

 tations of it have been formed since the proprietors 

 of land began to turn their wastes to profit, in the 

 production of trees. It makes also excellent under- 

 wood, and is quick growing. 



The fruit of the chesnut in England is inferior to 

 the produce of the .trees of the south of France, and 

 of Spain. In some provinces of France, and in Cor- 

 sica, this fruit constitutes the principal food of the 

 poorer people. The inhabitants of Limousin, a pro- 

 vince of France covered with chesnut trees, have from 

 time immemorial prepared them in a peculiar manner, 

 which deprives them of all their astringent and bitter 

 properties, and, thus prepared, they make them into 

 bread. 



The chesnut is the tree with which Salvator Rosa 

 delighted to adorn his bold and rugged landscapes. 

 It flourished in ffte mountains of Calabria, which 

 furnished the scenes of many of this great artist's pic- 

 tures. It grows not unlike the ash, except that its 

 branches are more straggling. 



The Beech (Fagus sylvatica] is more generally 

 diffused, and more abundant in Britain than the 

 chesnut. Like the chesnut, it thrives best in rich 

 soils and sheltered situations; and, when planted in 

 places that agree well with it, it is a beautiful as 

 well as a valuable tree. The close texture of the 

 beech renders it a very fit timber for machinery, for 

 the stocks and handles of tools, and for many other 

 purposes. It is not proof against the worm, how- 

 ever; and when exposed to alternate drought and 

 moisture it soon decays. Against a cross strain, 

 too, it is not so strong as the grained timbers, and 

 that, with the comparative shortness of its duration, 

 makes it but little used in building. Although easily 



