186 THE CHESTNUT. 



such as beams, posts, and fences, after a certain, and that 

 comparatively an early age, becomes what is technically 

 called shaky, and so deteriorated by the separation and 

 decay of the internal layers as to be of very little value. 

 It is evident therefore that before it could have attained 

 the size necessary for it to be employed in the structure of 

 such buildings as Westminster Hall, it must have lost all 

 the properties which recommended it. If cut when not 

 more than fifty years old, it consists almost exclusively of 

 heart-wood, with a layer of alburnum, or sapwood, equal- 

 ling in thickness the breadth of the bark; but when 

 suffered to stand beyond its full growth it is, on good 

 authority, the worst of all timber, being more brittle and 

 more apt to crack and fly into splinters than any other. 

 In the hop countries the growth of Chestnut-coppice is 

 much encouraged, poles from this tree and the Ash being 

 preferred to all others. Casks, it is said, made of Chest- 

 nut-wood contribute much to the colour and quality of the 

 wine, as well as to the preservation of it ; the fermentation 

 is slow, and the wine made in those vessels is sweeter. It 

 has also the property of lasting a long time, when used for 

 water-pipes or other purposes underground. It is said 

 also to be noxious to spiders and other insects, but this 

 virtue belongs rather to the situation of Oak-beams in old 

 buildings than to any quality actually residing in Chestnut. 

 As fuel it is not held in great estimation, but the charcoal 

 made from it, though not of first-rate quality, is in some 

 places greatly sought after for forges. The bark, especially 

 of young trees, is used for tanning, and sells at half the 

 price of Oak-bark. 



