294 



CHERRY 



CHESTNUT 



year (1899) canners have paid as high as $160 per ton 

 for white Cherries. The higher rates can only be ex- 

 pected during years of short crops. 



EDWARD J. WICKSON. 



CHEEVIL. A term applied to two umbelliferous plants 

 which produce edible parts, neither of which is well 

 known in America. The name is sometimes applied, also, 

 to the sweet cicely. 



Salad Chervil or Leaf Chervil is Scandix cere folium, 

 Linn., a native of S. Eu. It is annual. The neat and 

 aromatic Ivs. are used like parsley, which they much 

 resemble. The Ivs. are decompound, with oval cut leaf- 

 lets ; and there are varieties with much cut and curled 

 foliage. The cultivation of Salad Chervil presents no 

 difficulties. Leaves are ready to use in 6 to 10 weeks 

 from seed sowing, and any good garden soil is congenial. 

 It thrives best in the cooler and moister part of the year. 



Tuberous or Turnip-rooted Chervil is Chcerophyllum 

 bulbosum, Linn., of S. Eu. It is biennial or plur-annual, 

 like the radish and carrot. The roots are like small 

 carrots in shape (4-5 in. long), but are gray or blackish, 

 and the flesh is of different flavor. The roots are eaten 

 as carrots are, either boiled or in stews. The one diffi- 

 culty in the growing of Tuberous Chervil is the fact that 

 the seeds germinate very tardily, or even not at all, if 

 kept dry over winter. It is customary, therefore, to sow 

 them in the fall, although they do not germinate until 

 spring. If they are to be reserved for spring growing, 

 they should be stratified (see Seedage) or kept in sand. 

 In four or five months after germination, the roots are 

 fit to use, although they improve in quality by being 

 left in the ground. 



L. H. B. 



CHESS, or CHEAT. Bromus. 



CHESTNUT. Three species of tree or true Chestnuts 

 are cultivated in this country for fruit, the European 

 Castanea saliva, the American Castanea Americana, 

 the Japanese Castanea crenata. (Sea Castanea). The 

 horticultural characters which distinguish these three 

 types are as follows: 



European Chestnuts. Tree large, with a spreading 

 but compact head, stocky, smooth -barked twigs and large 

 glossy buds of a yellowish brown color; leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, abrubtly pointed, with coarse sometimes in- 

 curved serrations, thick and leathery, generally pubes- 

 cent beneath when young, but green on both sides when 

 mature. Burs very large, with long, branching spines, 

 and a thick, velvety lining. Nut larger than American 

 Chestnut, sometimes very large, shell dark mahogany 

 brown, pubescent at tip, thick, tough and leathery; ker- 

 nel enclosed in a thin, tough and astringent skin : 

 quality variable from insipid, astringent to moderately 



432. Native wild Chestnuts. Nearly natural size. 



sweet. The leaves remain on the trees until late in 

 autumn, but are more susceptible to the attacks of fungi 

 than the American and Japanese species. At least one 

 variegated and one cut-leaved variety are grown as orna- 

 mentals. This species is variously known as European, 

 French, Spanish and Italian Chestnut ( Castanea sativa), 



and Sweet Chestnut of English writers. It is an inhabi- 

 tant of mountain forests in the temperate regions of 

 western Asia, Europe and north Africa. Esteemed for 

 its nuts in Spain, France and Italy, where they have con- 

 stituted an important article of food since an early day. 

 Introduced to the United States by Ire"nee Dupont, at Wil- 

 mington, Del., in 1803, though recorded by Jefferson, 

 under the designation "French Chestnut, "as grafted by 

 him on native Chestnut near Charlottesville ( Monticello ) 

 Va., in 1773. 



American Chestnut (C. Americana). Fig. 432. A tall, 

 straight, columnar tree, in forests reaching a height of 

 100 ft. and a diameter of 3 to 4 ft. ; when grown in the 



433. Japanese Chestnuts (X %). 



open, forming a low, round-topped head of slightly pen- 

 dulous branches. Leaves thinner than in Castanea sat- 

 iva, oblong-lanceolate, acute, long pointed at the apex, 

 coarsely serrate except toward the wedge-shaped base, 



green and glabrous on both surfaces, changing to 

 right, clear yellow late in autumn. The staminate 

 flowers open in June or July, after leaves have attained 

 full size, and exhale a sweet, heavy odor, disagreeable 

 to many persons, and sometimes causing symptoms of 

 hay fever. The 2- or 3-flowered involucres of pistil- 

 late flowers are on short, stout peduncles at the bases 

 of androgynous aments which bear toward their tips 

 scattered clusters of staminate flowers. Burs smaller 

 and spines sharper than in C. sativa. The nuts, usually 

 2 or 3, rarely 5 to 7, are usually broader than long, 

 and much compressed by crowding, though some- 

 times nearly oblong and approaching cylindrical. They 

 are of a bright brown color, covered at the apex with 

 thick, pale tomentum, which sometimes extends nearly 

 to the base of the nut. The nuts are sweet and agree- 

 able in flavor, the best among Chestnuts, and are 

 marketed in large quantities from the forests of the 

 Appalachian region, eastern North America, Me. to 

 Ga., westward to Michigan, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

 Gradually receding from its southern areas from causes 

 not yet understood. A few selected forms have been 

 propagated by grafting. 



Japanese*Chestnut (C. crenata). Fig. 433. A dwarf- 

 ish, close-headed tree of slender growth, said to attain 

 a height of 50 ft. in Japan, with small buds ; leaves 

 smaller than other Chestnuts, lanceolate-oblong, usually 

 pointed, with a truncate or cordate base, finely serrated, 

 with shallow, sharp-pointed indentations, whitish tomen- 

 tose beneath, pale green above, less subject to injury by 

 fungi than other species. Burs small, with a thin, pa- 

 pery lining and short, widely branching spines. Nuts 

 large to very large, glossy, usually 3, sometimes 5 or 

 7 in a bur, usually inferior to the other Chestmits 

 in quality, though good when cooked, and in a few 

 varieties excellent in the fresh state. Many cultural 

 varieties are recognized. Introduced to the United States 

 in 1876 by S. B. Parsings, Flushing, N. Y. 



Aside from these three types, there are certain d\varf 

 and small-fruited Castaneas known as Chinquapins. The 

 two native Chinquapins may be contrasted as follows : 



