CHESTNUT. 155 



Kent, the trees are thrashed with rods or poles ; but this 

 is rough J and far fr< 

 collecting tire nuts. 



is rough J and far from being a commendable mode of 



The Chestnut {Castanea vesca), like the preceding, 

 has long been an inmate of the woods of England, in 

 which it grows to a great size; but it seldom ripens its 

 fruit in the northern parts of the island. Several vari- 

 eties, remarkable for their productiveness and early 

 bearing, have of late years risen into notice; particular- 

 ly Knight's Prolific, the New Prolific, and the Devon- 

 shire. These are propagated by grafting upon stocks 

 raised from nuts ; and when grafts are taken from bear- 

 ing wood, fruit may be produced in a couple of years. 

 The tree thrives best on a dry subsoil. 



This tree is by no means so extensively cultivated in 

 the United States as it deserves to be. The wild chest- 

 nuts of the forests are very abundant and very sweet. 

 But they are far surpassed in size by the varieties 

 brought from Europe, the product of which bear a very 

 high price in the markets of American cities. They are 

 readily propagated from seed of excellent quality, but 

 the most select varieties must be procured through graft- 

 ing and budding. Some English catalogues contain 30 

 or 40 varieties of cultivated chestnuts. The American 

 Chinquapin is a very small species of chestnut, not flat- 

 tened but rounded, and terminating at one extremity in 

 a point. It is very common in the woods of the South- 

 ern States, and southern portions of some of the Mid- 

 dle States, growing about 20 to 30 feet in height. The 

 chinquapin is very sweet and agreeable to the taste, and 

 deserves cultivation, selling well in the market. 



