SWEET, OR SPANISH CHESNUT. 



327 



from Greece, whither it had been brought from Asia 

 Minor, of which, as well as of other parts of the Asiatic 

 continent, it is a native. By the Greeks it was called 

 Sardionos Balanos (Sardis nut), and also Kastanea, from 

 the town of that name, both of which titles were adopted 

 by the Romans on its introduction into Italy. Virgil, 

 in his eclogues, mentions its fruit as the molles easterner, 

 and its commanding aspect, as a tree, in the second Georgic, 



ut altae castaneae, &c. 



Pliny enters more fully into its history, enumerating the 

 several varieties then existing, the difference and quality of 

 the fruit produced, and the purposes to which the nuts 

 were applied, together with the mode of preparing them 

 for food. It is also a native of the north of Africa, and 

 the species is supposed to be the same in North America. 



From what has already been stated in regard to the 

 timber of the Chesnut it is evident that, after a certain 

 and that comparatively an early age, it becomes so dete- 

 riorated by the separation and decay of the internal layers 

 as to be of very little value ; and that for all purposes 

 where a large scantling is required, it cannot be depended 

 upon or come into competition with the oak and many 

 other trees. This, however, is no reason for excluding it 

 from our plantations, even where profit is the only object 

 in view, for until the decay at heart actually commences 

 the timber is of excellent quality, and for most purposes, 

 where durability is required, equal to that of the oak, 

 This excellence arises from the very early period at which 

 it begins to heart or mature its wood, as well as from the 

 very small proportion the sap bears to the matured wood, 

 even in trees of only a few years' growth ; and it is no 

 uncommon thing to find, in trees not more than thirty 



