^sc 



^sc 



and of a beautiful dark green colour, appear very- 

 early m tbespring, the leaf-buds often beginning 

 to swell mil 10 January . It also forms its shoots in 

 a very rapid mania r, being often completed in the 

 course of three weeks from theperiod of foliation ; 

 and Which Wilier asserts be has found a foot 

 and a halt in length with their leaves completely 

 expanded. It is a native of Asia, and comes to 

 this country from tbe Levant. 



There are varieties of this tree cultivated, which 

 have gold-striped and silver-striped leaves. 



In the second species the leaves are digitate, 

 having five leaflet? ; the laminas of the corolla 

 being heart-shaped and roundish ; the claws 

 having twice the length of the calyx. This 

 rises to nearly the same height as the former; but 

 its flowers are of a yellow colour and appear later, 

 as in May or June. It is a native of North 

 Carolina in America. 



The third, or Scarlet Horse Chcsnut, rises to the 

 height of about fifteen or twenty feet, but does 

 not spread its branches to so great an extent as 

 the former. The bark is smooth. The leaves are 

 of a light green colour, standing opposite, and on 

 long red petioles. The flowers are produced from 

 the ends of the branches, upon long naked pe- 

 duncles, each sustaining four or five flowers : 

 these are much smaller than in the common 

 sort, wholly red, tubulous without any brims, 

 opening a little at the top, where the stamina 

 appear, being seven or eight in number, termi- 

 nated by roundish antherse. They appear in June, 

 and are sometimes succeeded by fruit in this 

 climate : but the seeds rarely ripen. It grows 

 naturally in Brazil, Japan, and several parts of 

 the East. 



Culture. — In the propagation and culture of 

 these trees there is but little difficulty where the 

 soil is suitable. 



The first sort, or Common Horse Chesnut, 

 will grow in different kinds of soil ; but it suc- 

 ceeds with the greatest certainty, and in the most 

 complete manner, in the deep loamy kinds, 

 where the bottom is dry. It does not thrive 

 well where the soils are in any great degree re- 

 tentive of moisture, as in those of the marshy 

 description. And in bleak exposed situations, 

 and where the soil is thin and light, it is raised 

 with much difficulty and trouble. 



When it is cultivated on such soils as are in 

 a slight degree inclined to moisture, the foliage, 

 however, preserves its verdure much longer than 

 w hen it is grown on lands that are very dry and 

 porous. 



It is mostly raised from the seed or nut, which 

 should either be bedded in, or planted in drills 

 to the depth of two or three inches, and half a 

 foot or more distant in the rows, on spots of 



good earth ; the most proper season for perform- 

 ing which ^s as early as possible in the beginning 

 of the year, as the latter end of January or be- 

 ginning of February. The nuts should be pre- 

 served in sand during the winter, in order to 

 prevent their contracting any mouldincss, and 

 being thereby injured. When planted in au- 

 tumn they are not only in danger of being 

 destroyed by rotting, but from the attacks of 

 vermin. 



The young plants mostly appear in the latter 

 end of April or beginning of May, and advance 

 so quickly in their growth during the summer, 

 as to be ready for transplanting in the autumn 

 or following spring, about February or March. 

 This should be performed in rows at the distance 

 of three feet from each other, the plants being 

 set at the distance of one foot from each other in. 

 the rows. In thus removing them, the roots 

 should not be too closely cut over. They may 

 then continue in the same situation for the space 

 of two years, when they will be in a proper con- 

 dition for being finally planted out ; as when 

 they are set out while young they mostly grow 

 to a larger size. In this removal the plants should 

 be taken up with great care, and the roots be 

 touched as little as possible by the knife, except 

 such parts as are bruised, as the trees seldom 

 succeed well where the roots are much cut. If 

 they are intended for large plantations they may, 

 however, remain in their situations till they have 

 attained a larger size. In either case the holes 

 in which they are planted should be large,, the 

 top part of the roots being left nearly on a level 

 with the surface of the ground, the fibres of 

 which should be spread out and lapped in the 

 fine mold that is well wrought to the bottoms. 

 They should afterwards be staked and fenced in 

 from cattle. October in dry soils, and February 

 and March in moist ones, are the best seasons 

 for this business. 



The varieties of this tree with striped leaves 

 arc to be propagated either by layering, budding, 

 or ingrafting them upon stocks of the common 

 kind. For the first of these methods the autumn 

 is the most proper season, but the latter may be 

 best executed during the spring months. 



The second and third kinds are likewise capa- 

 ble of being propagated by means of the nuts, 

 which, as they seldom attain a perfect degree of 

 maturity or ripeness in this climate, should be 

 procured from the places where the trees grow 

 naturally. They are then to be planted in pots 

 of good earth in the early spring months, and 

 immediately afterwards plunged in a hot-bed of 

 a moderate temperature, air being freely admit- 

 ted, by which their germination and early growth 

 will be greatly forwarded. About the latter end 



