CHESTNUT CULTURE IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. 89 



vation period. The children, on the other hand, being assured of a winter food 

 supply from other sources, gathered the chestnuts partly for pleasure, and, in part, 

 to obtain pin money. Pleasure and profit were thus well combined, because for a 

 merry band of young people to wander through the autumn woods in search of nuts 

 was a pleasure which cannot be readily appreciated by the dwellers in urban commu- 

 nities. The nuts thus collected, which were not dried and kept as winter compan- 

 ions for the apples and cider, were usually sold to the local storekeepers who 

 forwarded them to city commission merchants, whence they found their way 

 to the city markets. Occasionally when nuts were plentiful, agents traveled through 

 the country districts and bought them in large quantities for shipment to the 

 centers of consumption. 



Of late there has been an increasing interest in the growing and marketing of 

 both exotic and native nuts, and active steps have been taken to improve existing 

 varieties and introduce new ones. By thus insuring a steady supply of first-class 

 nuts new uses for them have been found, and growers are now reasonably assured 

 of a steady and growing demand for the fruit product of the chestnut tree. 



Tl>e American 



Castanea dentata, Marsh. 



The generic name Castanea was probably derived from Kastanea, a city in 

 Pontius, Asia Minor, where the chestnut is a native, or from the town of Castanea 

 in Thessaly where it is believed it was first brought into Europe. Some botanists 

 affirm that the European chestnut is indigenous to the British Isles and the conti- 

 nent of Europe ; but most authorities agree that it was introduced into Greece from 

 Asia Minor, thence carried to Italy by the Romans, whence it was dissemi- 

 nated throughout Southern and Western Europe. Its introduction took place so 

 long ago that chestnut trees have been growing apparently wild in Spain, Italy, 

 France, and Great Britain for centuries. 



The history of the European chestnut has been noted somewhat carefully because 

 it is a question whether the American nut is worthy of a place as a distinct species, 

 or is only a variety of the European. From a purely botanical standpoint there is 

 little difference between the two, yet the pomological variations are so marked that 

 certain authorities give the American nut specific rank on this basis alone. De Can- 

 dolle, Asa Gray, Apgar and Loudon hold to the opinion that the American chestnut 

 is but a variety of the sweet chestnut of Europe. Prof. Sargent and Mr. Sudworth, 

 on the other hand, prefer to dignify our chestnut as a distinct species. The most 





