The Horse Chestnut. 261 



rank among their forest trees. ]t is extremely well suited for the 

 adornment of parks, and to be placed before the mansions of the 

 great In France, they fully appreciate its value for such pur- 

 poses, and at the Tuileries it rises around the basin in masses 

 of incomparable beauty. At the Luxembourg, it spreads its 

 branches in accordant pomp and splendor : 



There avenues of chestnuts high, 



With vaulted roofs conceal the sky. 



In the beginning of spring, one rainy day is sufficient to cover 

 it with verdure ; and when planted alone, nothing surpasses the 

 elegance of its pyramidal form, the beauty of its foliage and the 

 richness of its flowers, which sometimes make it appear as an 

 immense chandelier all covered with pearls. Fond of ostenta- 

 tion and richness, it covers with flowers the grass which it over- 

 shadows, and yields to the idler a most delightful shade ; but to 

 the poor man it is of little service, supplying him with a light 

 and porous, and consequently soft and perishable timber. The 

 fruit has a bitter, disagreeable taste, and is to us extremely un- 

 healthy, the reverse of which holds in the case of cattle ; deer eat 

 them with avidity, and the Turks, from grinding the nuts and mix- 

 ing it with the corn they fed their horses, occasioned its common 

 name. The nuts produce a considerable quantity of the finest 

 starch. The bark has been of some service in tanning, but at 

 present is not as much used as it was formerly, on account of 

 the discoveries and improvements in that art having placed 

 cheaper and better articles at the command of those who require 

 such things. We find an account of the Variegated Leaved 

 Horse Chestnut— ^Esculus Folia Varikgata, in some of our 

 agricultural works. It was discovered by Kenrich in his nursery 

 grounds, in 1841. Some of the leaves are wholly of a pure 

 white color ; others of a pure white over one half to the central 

 division ; others striped with pure white and green. In floral 

 language the Horse Chestnut is the emblem of Luxury. 



