CURRANTS. 147 
long been an inmate of the woods of England, in which it 
grows to a great size; but it seldom ripens its fruit in the 
northern parts of the island. Several varicties, remarka- 
ble for their productiveness and carly bearing, have of late 
years risen into notice; particularly Knight’s Prolific, the 
New Prolific, and the Devonshire. These are propagated 
by grafting upon stocks raised from nuts; and when grafts 
are taken from bearing wood, fruit may be produced in a 
couple of years. The tree thrives best on a dry subsoil. 
This tree is by no means so extensively cultivated in the 
United States as it deserves to be. The wild chestnuts of 
the forests are very abundant and very sweet. But they 
are far surpassed in size by the varieties brought from Hu- 
rope, the product of which bear a very high price in the 
markets of American cities. They are readily propagated 
from seed of excellent quality, but the most select varieties 
must be procured through grafting and budding. Some 
English catalogues contain 30 or 40 varieties of cultivated 
chestnuts. The American Chinquapin is a very small spe- 
cies of chestnut, not flattened but rounded, and terminating 
at one extremity in a point. It is very common in the 
woods of the Southern States, and southern portions of 
some of the Middle States, growing about 20 to 30 feet in 
height. The Chinquapin is very sweet and agreeable to 
the taste, and deserves cultivation, selling well in the 
market. 
SMALL FRUITS. 
The Red, White, and Black Currant, the Gooseberrv, 
the Raspberry, the Strawberry, and Cranberry, are usually 
cultivated in English gardens, under the title of Small 
Fruits. Their economical uses in cookery, confectionery, 
