The Chestnut. 223 



warm climates, and in Italy it is thought equal to the oak for staves. 

 In colder countries it is too porous for coopers' use excepting for dry 

 wares. It is highly prized for carpentry, bears exposure very well, 

 and is very durable for fencing. It is sometimes made into shingles, 

 but although durable, it is very apt to warp. Its lumber is much 

 used for furniture and inside finishing, and shows to fine advantage 

 when oiled or varnished. 



^82. Throughout Prance and the south of Europe, young chest- 

 nut rods are extensively used for hoops, and from their durability 

 in moist places they will long resist the dampness of cellars. Chest- 

 nut coppices are considered valuable property for this use, and are 

 cut off about once in seven years, the smaller rods being saved for 

 hoops, and the larger ones for vine-props. The American chestnut 

 is not found well adapted for this use, as the wood is more brittle, 

 and more liable to split off at the ends. 



883. As a fuel, the chestnut ranks with the light woods. Its 

 pores being full of air, it snaps as it burns, and its charcoal is light, 

 but still useful in forges, although not as valuable as the hard-woods 

 in the reduction of metallic ores. 



884. The extract of chestnut is prepared in France, by cutting the 

 green wood into chips, with revolving planes, that slice across the 

 grain. The chips are then put into great covered boilers, and al- 

 lowed to mascerate for some time, when steam is admitted, and the 

 process is continued till the tannin in the wood is exhausted. The 

 liquor is then strained out and evaporated to the desired consistence. 

 This acid product is used in preparing silks, and is employed in tan- 

 ning the lighter kinds of leather. In the neighborhood of Lyons, 

 France, they get 25 per cent of weight of the wood in the form of 

 extract, worth about 18 francs per 100 kilograms, equal to about 

 500 pounds to the ton, worth $32.72. 



885. Chestnut wood has been used to a small extent in the 

 United States for tanning purposes. It appears to require a warm 

 climate, to develop these properties so as to be of much value. 



886. Dying off of the Chestnut. Throughout the Piedmont region 

 in North Carolina and in the northern part of Georgia and Ala- 

 bama, the chestnut trees have been dying off in many cases to a large 

 extent, and from causes that have not been ascertained. The mor- 

 tality is noticed in trees of all ages, and now there is but little of 

 this timber found in a growing condition in North Carolina east of 



