AUGUST. 



365 



the branches of the present year's growth, are found dustered 

 in stars of from five to seven or more, on the fruitful branch- 

 lets that grow from the perfected wood. Hence, when the 

 tree is viewed from a Httle distance, the whole mass of foliage 

 seems to consist of tufts, each containing a bunch of long 

 pointed leaves, drooping divergently from a common centre. 

 From the same centre, the catkins of male flowers come out 

 in the same drooping and radiating manner, making this pe- 

 culiarity the more conspicuous. A similar general appear- 

 ance, in a less degree, may be observed in the shell-bark 

 hickory. The chestnut is rendered still more conspicuous 

 by the bright silvery green color of these flowers, glistening 

 amidst the dark green foliage. In the autumn again the tree 

 becomes just as strongly marked by its fruit, consisting of 

 burs, resembling light green tufts scattered among the darker 

 leaves. 



The chestnut, in its ramification, resembles the red oak, 

 sending out its branches at a wider angle, and to a greater 

 length in proportion to its height. Its larger branches are 

 numerous, but its spray is coarse, the terminal branches be- 

 ing few, and not so angular at their jouits as those of the 

 oak. The density of shade afi'orded by the chestnut is 

 the consequence of the large size and closeness of growth of 

 the leaves, which thereby compensate for the openness of the 

 spray, like the foliage of the horse-chestnut. I have observed 

 that the spray of most trees corresponds with the character 

 of their fruit, the bearers of small berries or seeds having in 

 general a more minutely divided spray, than the bearers of 

 large berries or nuts. Hence the beech has a more finely di- 

 vided spray than the chestnut, and the elm and the birch 

 that bear a small seed, have a finer spray than the oaks and 

 hickories that bear large seeds or nuts. 



Many large chestnuts are found in different parts of the 

 country, the value of their fruit having induced the early 

 settlers to preserve them, while the oaks were cut down for 

 their timber. The chestnut, though a rapid growing tree, 

 attains a great age, and forms one of the most majestic stand- 

 ards, surpassed only by the elm. It is said very speedily to 



