CHESTNUT TREK. 97 



within the garden wall, which lx>re hard upon it; but 

 the present Lord Dacie removed the incumbrance, and 

 at the same time applied fresh earth to the roots, which 

 seems to have enlivened it. So late as the year 1788 it 

 produced great quantities of fruit, which, though small, 

 was sweet and well-flavoured. 



Mr. Lysons, who has etched two views of this famous 

 tree, contradicts most of the former accounts : he speaks 

 of it in the year 1791 as measuring but forty-four feet 

 four inches round at the thickest part ; says there is no 

 authority but vague tradition to show at what period it 

 became remarkable for its size, and affirms that it could 

 never have been the boundary of the manor, for that it 

 stands in the middle of it. 



Sir Robert Atkins, too, who gives the circumference 

 at nineteen yards, at an earlier period, thinks that ori- 

 ginally there were several trees: and Mr. Marshall sup- 

 poses that there are two trees joined together. 



The largest Chestnut, therefore, of which we have any 

 knowledge, and of which there have been no doubts as 

 to individuality, is II Castagno del Galea, before men- 

 tioned. 



The leaves of the Chestnut remain on late in the 

 autumn, when they are of a rich golden colour. Martyn 

 remarks, that the nuts are a favourite food of the deer. 

 It has been observed, that when many of these trees art- 

 planted together near a house, the odour, which to many 

 persons is very offensive, is apt to be too powerful. 

 Nothing will thrive under its shade. 



The soundness of the timber has been much ques- 

 tioned by some; but it has proved, on some occasions, 

 superior to the oak itself. It is particularly adapted 



