THE HORSE-CHESTNUT. 



^s'cmIus Eipipocm'tamtm L. 



So hardy, so commonly planted, so well known, and 

 withal so beautiful a tree as the Horse-chestnut, 

 though certainly not indigenous, claims early notice in 

 these pages. _The land of its nativity is unknown. This 

 has been variously stated as Thessaly and as Thibet ; 

 and its introduction into this country is said to date 

 from the year 1550, but may not have been till eighty 

 years later. It is planted, mainly for ornament, 

 throughout Europe, preferring a loam sandy rather 

 than stiff, in which it will make rapid growth. 



The smooth and almost cylindrical bole which it 

 forms seldom exceeds twelve feet in girth, and is gen- 

 erally green on its surface from the Algse that invari- 

 ably frequent the tree. The lowest branches are given 

 off at from five to ten feet from the ground, and are 

 the longest, so that, though always rounded above, the 

 tree has, on the whole, a pyramidal outline. Starting in 

 opposite pairs, like the leaves, the boughs, rising at an 

 angle of 60 or 70 degrees from the stem, bend in a 

 graceful curve outwards and downwards almost at 

 a right angle to their first direction, so as again to 

 make an inclination of 60 or 70 degrees from the 

 upper part of the stem. They turn up at their points, 

 -thus describing in their entire course of growth a 

 complex curve of unique beauty, which it is impos- 

 sible adequately to describe in words. The whole 



