FRUITS VARIETIES AXD CULTURE. 



539 



Fig. 210. 



American Chestnut. 



sweet chestnut (castanca satica) has been grafted for many 

 years in France and England upon the European black 

 oak (quercus robur), using young seedlings raised by plant- 

 ing acorns where the trees are to remain permanently. 1 " 

 A few experiments have been made 

 recently in the United States with 

 a degree of success, using the chest- 

 uut oak (quercus primus) as a stock. 

 The Common Wild American 

 Chestnut (castanca dentata) grows 

 iu the mountains and the hilly 

 regions of the South, and bears its 

 fruit in great abundance. The nuts, 

 however, are not as large as those 

 produced on the imported varieties; but they are 

 sweeter. The native chestnuts have been greatly im- 

 proved by transplanting and grafting, and by careful cul- 

 tivation. The demand for the nuts is steadily increasing. 

 Large Spanish or Marron de Lyon (castanca sativa). 

 The nuts are very large, but not as sweet as the Ameri- 

 can. The large size com- 

 mand attention, and there 

 is a better market for them 

 because of that fact. 



Japan Giant or Mam- 

 moth (castanca Japonica). — 

 The growth from the seeds 

 is uncertain as to results, 



Fig. 211-Spanish Chestnut. an(1 tbe geedg are often ^ 



reliable. Grafting is the only sure method to reproduce 

 this plant in perfection. The burr generally contains as 

 many as five large nuts. The trees do not grow tall, but 

 are dwarf in habit. 



Chinquapin (castanca pumila). — This is a shrub gene- 

 rally, but it sometimes grows to the size of a tree. It is 



