MANAGEMENT OF THE CHESTNUT TREE. O 



OS 



them has been known from time immemoriul; the wild or 

 ungriifted chestnut is called in freiich chaiaignier, the graft- 

 ed or cultivated sort maronnier. . 



Though the grafting of chestnuts has been little, if at all andin tliewe;*^ 

 used ill this part of the island, it is not an uncommon "^^"g'^n**- 

 practice in Devonshire, and other western counties. The 

 nurserymen there deal in grafted chestnut trees, and the 

 gentlemen have no doubt introduced them into their gar- 

 dens. 



About sixteen 3ears ago, sir William Watson sent some 

 ©rthese grafted trees iVom Devonshire to Spring Grove, 

 with an assurance, that the fruit would be plentiful and 

 good. They were at first neglected and ill treated, owing 

 to the disinclination most gardeners have to the introduction 

 of novelties, the management of which they are unarfjuaint- 

 ed with: it was therefore t.ix or seven years before they be- 

 gan to bear fruit. 



Since that time, as the trees have increased in size, the The English 

 crop has every year become more abundant; last ^"tuoin Jhan th^lT" "^^ 

 the produce, though they are only six in number, was suffi- uish. 

 cient to afford the family a daily supply from the beginning 

 of November till after Christmas. The nuts are much snialler 

 than the Spanish imported truit, but they are beyond com- 

 parisoa sweeter to the taste. The crops are little subject to 

 injury, except from very late frosts. The trees are in gene- 

 ral covered with blossoms to a degree, that retards their an- 

 nual increase. They are now so low, that a part of the crop 

 is gathered from the ground, and the remainder by a step- 

 ladder. They require no care or attendance on the part of 

 the gardener, except only the labour of gathering the fruit. 

 Most people prefer the taste of the fruit to that of the im- 

 ported, but there can be no doubt, that, when the us^ge of 

 grafting chestnuts becomes common in this country, grafts 

 of all other sorts will in due time be procured from the con- 

 tinent. 



The kernels of these chestnuts, and of all others ripened Mode of keep- 

 in England, are more liable to shrivel and dry up than those *"S them. 

 imported, owing to a deficiency of summer heat in our cli- 

 mate to mature the fruit; this must be guarded against by 

 Jteeping the nuts always in a cool place, rather damp thaii 



dry; 



