THE CHESTNUT 



THROUGHOUT its somewhat limited range the Chestnut tree is one of the best 

 known of all the trees of the forest. It is indigenous from parts of New England 

 and Ontario west to Michigan and south to Indiana and Delaware, extending 

 along the Alleghany mountains to Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. It is a particu- 

 larly handsome and sturdy tree, its characteristic leaves being of a shining green color 

 and having along their margins very distinctive forward-pointing teeth arising from the 

 end of each of the nearly straight veins that run out from the midrib. The short leaf- 

 stems are unusually thick and are enlarged still more at the base. When these leaves 

 fall away they reveal a straight trunked tree with wide spreading branches having the 

 general outline unusually even. The bark of the young twigs is smooth and shining, 

 generally reddish brown or grayish brown in color, and the winter buds are small with 

 comparatively few scales, those along the sides of the twigs projecting at a distinct angle 

 from the stem. The color of the buds varies from greenish brown to chestnut brown. 

 The bark of the larger branches of the trunk is dark gray, much ridged and furrowed. 

 In its best estate the tree reaches a height of a hundred feet and a trunk diameter of six 

 or eight feet. The wood is rather light and soft and seems to be chiefly valuable for fence- 

 posts and rail way- ties, being especially resistant to the ill effects of moisture. It is also 

 used for various other purposes. It weighs twenty-eight pounds per cubic foot. 



The Chestnut is a handsome tree at any season of the year but it becomes a marvel 

 of graceful beauty in midsummer when the long pollen-bearing catkins push out from the 

 axils of the leaves, giving to the tree a distinctive effect which seems all the more striking 

 on account of the lateness of the season. After a few days of blossoming the pollen-bearing 

 catkins fall off and the rapid development of the seed-bearing flowers begins. The nuts 

 inside their spinous coverings reach maturity so quickly that the first autumnal frosts 

 cause the burs to open and drop and the harvest of the chestnuts is on. The sweet nuts 

 are gathered in great quantities and are sweeter than those of the European chestnut. 



The Chestnut tree is commonly planted for shade, ornament and fruit and it has 

 many advantages which render it desirable for this purpose. It is easily propagated from 

 the nuts and young trees may commonly be obtained from nurserymen. It is one of the 

 most promising trees for forestry planting, growing rapidly on nearly all soils except those 

 of limestone formation. For the first thirty years a chestnut tree will increase in height 

 at an average rate of about eighteen inches. 



Two other species of Chestnut are often planted for fruit and ornament: one is 

 the European Chestnut, Castanea sativa, of which there are many named varieties; and 

 the other is the Japanese Chestnut, Castanea crenata, of which there are about a score of 

 named varieties. 



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