212 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



ily found and simple to pick, is a tasteless 

 affair as you pluck it from the stalk. But 

 when fall comes it takes the practised eye to 

 discover nuts. You see, a nut-tree tries 

 every means to save its fruits from being 

 eaten ; for are they not the seeds themselves ? 

 And these seeds, ever so much bigger than 

 even those of Indian corn, must do all that 

 in their power lies to elude the eyes of hun- 

 gry animals. The simple corn falls too easy 

 a prey; they must do better if they are to 

 escape and perpetuate their kind. Here 

 again two plans are evident. The chestnut 

 is more subtle; the walnut relies on its main 

 strength. 



THE KEEN CHESTNUT 



The chestnut, so primitive in the matter 

 of its yellow fall color, in the simple char- 

 acter of its leaves, in its quick growth for a 

 tree, is quite sophisticated in the matter of 

 its nuts. During the long growing season 

 the nut is covered by a hull which is green 

 in color. This means that against the back- 

 ground of the leaves it will, for the most 



