GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES 



a tree of vast commercial importance in the 

 far West, does not come much into the view 

 of a lover of the purely American trees. 



Of the American sweet chestnut as a delight- 

 ful nut- fruit I need say nothing more than 

 that it fully holds its place against "foreign 

 intervention" from the East; even though these 

 European and Japanese chesnuts with their 

 California -bred progeny give us fruit that is 

 much larger, and borne on trees of very 

 graceful habit. No one with discrimination 

 will for a moment hesitate, after eating a nut 

 of both, to cheerfully choose the American 

 native as best worth his commendation, though 

 'he may come to understand the food value, 

 after cooking, of the chestnuts used so freely 

 in parts of Europe. 



As a forest tree, however, our American 

 sweet chestnut has a place of its own. Nat- 

 urally spreading in habit when growing where 

 there is room to expand, it easily accommo- 

 dates itself to the more cramped conditions of 

 our great woodlands, and shoots upward to 

 light and air, making rapidly a clean and 

 sturdy stem. What a beautiful and stately tree 



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