2000 ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. PART 111. 



the trunk divides. A number of tesder shoots spring out annually from its topmost branches, 

 and still give it, by the brightness of their foliage, an appearance of freshness altogether unex- 

 pected in such a ruin." Not far from this tree, in the same park, is the Fallen Chestnut, also 

 figured by Strutt. Gilpin mentions some fine chestnuts on the banks of the river Tamar, in Corn- 

 wall, at an old house belonging to the Edgecumbe family ; and also 70 or 80 trees at Beechworth 

 Castle, in Surrey, with trunks measuring from 12ft. to 18 ft, and even 20 ft., in girt. One of these 

 trees was measured by Mitchell, and found to be 18 ft. in circumference, and 90 It. high. At Win- 

 ley, near Hitchin Priory, in Hertfordshire, a chestnut, in 1789, girted upwards of 14 yards (42ft) 

 at 5 ft from the ground : its trunk was hollow, and in part open ; but its vegetation was vigo- 

 rous. At Great Canford, in Dorsetshire, there were four large chestnut trees in the.time of Grose ; 

 one of which measured 37ft round, and bore fruit plentifully, though the tree was much shivered 

 and decayed by age. In Marti/?i's Mi/lei- it is stated, on the authority of Ord's MS., that the stem of an 

 old chestnut near Fraiting, in Essex, yielded 30 loads of logs ; and another is mentioned in Glouces- 

 tershire, which contained within its hollow trunk " a pretty wainscoted room, enlightened with 

 windows, and furnished with seats." In Greenwich Park there are some large and old chestnut 

 trees; one of which, in 1795, measured 17ft. 6 in. in girt. At Shelford Lodge, Hampstead, in the 

 same year, a chestnut measured 15 ft. in girt at 5 ft. from the ground In Scotland, a number of 

 large chestnut trees are mentioned by Dr. Walker, Mr. Sang, and Sir T. D. Lauder. The latter ob- 

 serves, that the chestnut is found near all the old aristocratical residences in Scotland. He mentions 

 a magnificent group of these trees at Winton, in East Lothian ; and has given a figure of one at 

 Riccarton, in the county of Edinburgh, the trunk of which measures 27 ft. in circumference, and the 

 head covers a space 77 ft. in diameter. " A Spanish chestnut at Preston Hall measures, at 1 ft from 

 the ground, 18 ft. in girt ; and at 10ft., 19ft." A chestnut at Kinfauns Castle, in Perthshire, whicft 

 was cut down in 1760, had a trunk which measured 22 ft. Sin. in circumference; and, though 

 it was hollow, all the branches had leaves and fruit upon them the year it was cut down. It was 

 supposed to be above 200 years old. The great chestnut that stood at Finhaven, in Forfarshire, was 

 long accounted the largest tree of the kind in Scotland. We have given some account of it in our 

 General History, p. 90. At Levenside, in Dumbartonshire, a chestnut of surprising bulk was thrown 

 down by a hurricane, January 13th, 1739. Sang has given the dimensions of 17 large chestnuts, the 

 smallest of which measured 8 ft. 6 in. in circumference at 4 ft. from the ground, with a trunk 36 ft. 

 in length, and stands at Leslie House, in Fife; and the largest, which was blown down about the 

 end of the last century, had a trunk which measured 17 ft. in circumference, and was 22 ft. in height. 

 This chestnut, along with several other very large ones at the same place, is supposed to have been 

 upwarvls of 300 years old. In Ireland, there have been many fine chestnuts in different parts of the 

 country. An avenue at Duganston, cut down in 1793, contained trees which measured from 14ft. 

 to 16ft Gin. in circumference, with trunks, some of them 24ft., and others 36 It in length. At 

 Cranmore, near Belfast, is a very large chestnut tree, already mentioned, p. 112. At Bellione, trees 

 planted 27 years had trunks 5 ft., and one 7 ft., in circumference at 1 ft from the ground, and could 

 have afforded planks 16 ft long, and 12 in. broad. They grew in a strong loam on a limestone rock." 

 (Hayes's Treat., p. 162.) In France, near Sancerre, M. Bosc saw a chestnut 32ft. 6 in. in circum- 

 ference at 6ft. from the ground, which, 600 years before, was called the Great Chestnut of Sancerre. 

 It was supposed to be 1000 years old, notwithstanding which its trunk looked perfectly healthy on its 

 exterior ; and it bore every year an immense quantity of fruit Near Bode, where there are still some 

 very large chestnut trees, there was one which fell in 1807, and which produced 18 cords of wood of 

 144 French cubic feet, 2500 poles 8 French feet long each, 90 stakes, and 300 faggots. At Plessis, 

 near Becherel, there is a chestnut, the trunk of which measured above 30 ft. in circumference at 

 about 4ft. from the ground; but its roots, whicli rise up out of the earth, would give it a much 

 greater extent if it were measured at the surface. The English prisoners of war, who were confined 

 at Becherel, frequently visited this tree ; and, from their report, few English travellers pass any where 

 near it without turning out of their road to see the celebrated chestnut of Plessis. (Sosc.) Near 

 Paris, at La Celle, Dr. Neill mentions, in his Horticulture I Tuur,&\\ ancient plantation of marroniers, 

 or cultivated chestnuts. Most of them, he says, are grafted trees ; and, in some instances, the graft 

 had greatly overgrown the stock. One aged tree measured, at the place of grafting, no less than 22 ft. 

 6 in. in circumference ; while, immediately below the graft, the stock was only 15 ft. 6 in in circum- 

 ference. In theTorest of St. Germain en Laye, the deputation, of which Dr. Neill is the organ, found 

 chestnuts (chiitaigniers, not marroniers,'} scattered up and down as singletrees, and in small separate 

 plantations. They were frequently of great age and large dimensions; the bole sometimes measur- 



ing 13ft., 14ft., and 15ft. in circumference, and being sometimes quite hollow, though the head was 

 vigorous, (p. 365.) In Tuscany, the chestnut trees of Valombrosa are celebrated for their size, the 

 abundance of their leaves, and the deepness of the shade which they produce. (Seep. 1987.) The 

 expression, " Thick as the leaves of Valombrosa," has, indeed, almost passed into a proverb. (See 

 Loader's Gilpin, voL i. p. 101.) In Sicily, the chestnuts of Mount Etna have been already men- 

 tioned. The dimensions of the 3 largest (Castagno di Cento Cavalli, Castagno di Santa Agata, and 

 Castagno della Nave) have been already given (p. 1987.)- 



Existing Trees of Castunea vtsca. The oldest trees in the immediate neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don are in Greenwich Park and Kensington Gardens; but they are, for the most part, hollow 

 trunks, with pollard-like heads. At Muswell Hill is the old chestnut figured in our last Volume, 

 which is 66ft high ; at Mount Grove, Hampstead, it is 57 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3ft. 6 in., 

 and of the head 44 ft. ; near Richmond, in the grounds of the Countess of Shaftcsbury, it is tiO ft. 

 high, diameter of the trunk 11 ft. 6 in., and of the head 60ft South of London. In Devonshire, 

 at Bicton, it is 28ft. 6 in. high, diameter of the trunk 7 ft ; at Killerton, 34 years planted, it is 56ft. 

 high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and of the head 57 ft. ; at Endsleigh Cottage, 22 years planted, 

 it is 50ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 5 in., and of the head 14ft. In Dorsetshire, at Melbury 

 Park, 100 years old, it is 66ft. high, diameter of the trunk 9ft., and of the head 60 ft. ; at Compton 

 House, 60 years planted, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3ft. 4 in. In Hampshire, at Strath- 

 fieldsaye, it is 98ft. high, with a trunk 4 ft. in diameter. In Kent, at Cobham Hall, 10 years planted, 

 it is 30ft. high, diameter of the trunk 9 in. (for the old trees at Cobham, see p. 1999.) ; at Wnlder- 

 share is a fine old tree (Jig. 1926.), 91 ft. high, with a trunk 24 ft. 10 in. in circumference at 1 ft. from 

 the ground, and 15ft 10 in. at the height of 28ft. The trunk is 51 ft. high before it divides into 

 branches, and the diameter of the head is 65ft. It grows in a sheltered situation, in loam on gravel. 

 In Somersetshire, at Nettlecombe, 120 years old, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 6ft., and of 

 the head 72 ft. 6 in. In Surrey, at Betchworth Castle, are some remarkably large chestnut trees. 

 One measured for us in May, 1837, was 80 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk, at 1 ft from the ground, 

 8ft., and of the head 222ft. The timber contained in this tree was estimated at 14 loads 25 ft. 

 Another tree at the same place was 65 ft. high, the trunk 6 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and was estimated 

 to contain 13 loads 8 ft. of timber. At Farnlinm Castle arc some remarkably line old chestnuts : one is 

 76 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 7 ft 6 in., and of the head 60 ft. ; and another 6/> ft. high, diameter 

 uf the trunk 7 ft, and of the head 60ft. In Sussex, at Cowdray, there is a magnificent avenue, 



