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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



THE SCARLET-FLOWEKED HORSE CHESTNUT. 



THE HOUSE CHESTNTIT AS AN 02NAMENTAL THEE, 



At this season of the year, when in full bloom, 

 there is no tree to us more beautiful than the com- 

 mon Horse OhestHut. There are many fine speci- 

 mens in this city, and we rarely pass one without 

 fctipping to admire it. The rapidity of its growth 

 afier the foliage begins to expand, is truly astonish- 

 lu?. It exhausts itself, however, in a short time, 

 and, on the V(?hoIe, is rather a slow-jjrowing tree. 

 Still, there are few, if any, trees at the North, having 

 blossoms so rich and beautiful, that attain to such 

 dimensions. Imaginative writers have termed it the 

 "<3igantic Hyacinth," the "Lupine Tree," &c. Others, 

 to point a moral, alluding to the gaiety of its blos- 

 sc;mg, and the prodigality with which it scatters them 

 on the grass, and the comparative uselessness of its 

 fruit and timber, have regarded it as a fit emblem of 

 ostentation. 



The principal value of the horse chestnut is as an 

 arnamental tree. In point of floral beauty, it is un- 

 ©qualed by any tree of equal size that will endure 

 onr Northern winters. Still, it is not without other 

 Tiseful qualities. Though not of a spreading habit, 

 xiy Hriiple foliage affords considerable shade; charcoal 

 made from it is used in the manufacture of gun- 

 powder; the bark is employed for tanning, and also 

 for dyeing yellow. In some coutries, the nuts are 

 fe.d to goats, sheep and deer; and when ground and 

 mixed with other food, they are said to he good for 

 feroiven winded horses. 



The horse chestnut is easily propagated from seed. 

 Well ripened nuts sJiQuld be sowc in a rich, djeep, 



free loam. A bushel of nuts is suiBcieut for a bed 

 four feet wide anil .sixty feet long. When one year 

 old, the seedlitigs should be transplanted into nursery 

 rows, two feet apart, and one foot in the rov.'s. In 

 three years, they will require to be removed to more 

 commodious quarters. Any farmer may easily raise 

 all he requires. The fibrous nature of the roots of 

 this tree, particularly after being frequently tranp- 

 planted in the nursery, prepares it for being removed 

 with safety when of considerable size. This valua- 

 ble property fits it for immediate effect in decorating 

 grounds and in forming avtnues of verdure. 



The scarlet-flowered horse chestnut (Msculus rv- 

 hicunda) is a smaller tree than the conmion horse 

 chestnut, and of a less vigorous growth. It flowers 

 it an earlier age, and the leaves are of a deeper green 

 than those of the common horse chestnut. The ac- 

 companying engraving hardly does it justice. Lon- 

 noN justly observes: "It is, without doubt, the most 

 ornamental sort of the ^-enus." 



The double-flowering white horse chestnut, figured 

 in the Genesee Farmer for January, 1852, (we ob- 

 serve thn.t the same cut is given in last week's Rural 

 JVeiv Yorker!) is a variety of the common horse 

 chestnut, with double flowers. It is a new and bean- 

 tiful tree, and, though still scarce, can be obtained, 

 probably, at any of the leading nurseries. 



The Ohio Buckeye belongs to the Horse Chestnut 

 family. In fact, Loudon thinks it only a variety of 

 the common horse chestnut, and '• far inferior to it 

 in point of beauty." He judged from two speciinen* 

 whii'h had been taken to England. 



