802 
In Korea 
In Korea, Allen says, “By far the most 
common food nut is the chestnut, which 
almost takes the place with the Korean 
which the potato occupies with us. The 
chestnut is used raw, boiled, roasted, 
cooked with meat, made into confections, 
powdered and mixed with candy, and 
dried whole, in which latter condition it 
becomes quite sweet, but is apt to be af- 
fected by worms.” 
In Japan 
According to Rein great quantities of 
chestnuts are raised in Japan, but there 
they are used less for human food than 
they are elsewhere. They are fed large- 
ly to swine. The latter practice may ac- 
count for the poorer quality of the Jap- 
anese chestnut; quantity, rather than 
quality, being the desideratum among the 
Japanese. Sargent, on the other hand, in 
referring to the human use of the chest- 
nut in Japan, disagrees with Rein, and 
says, “I have never seen chestnuts of- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
fered in such quantities in any American 
or European city as in those of Tokyo, 
and other Japanese towns.” 
The composition of the European chest- 
nuts has been shown by Frear to be 
similar to that of wheat. By the same 
writer and by others it is stated that 
the chestnut is easily digested after the 
starch grains have been burst open and 
made less resistant to the attacks of the 
digestive fluids, by cooking. 
Botanical Considerations 
The botanical rank of the chestnut 
groups is much perplexed. Botanists 
are unanimous in according the Euro- 
pean chestnut specific rank, but the 
Japanese and the American types are 
considered both as varieties and as 
species by various authors. Personal- 
ly, I prefer to consider the three groups 
as distinct species, for as they are grow- 
ing in America, each has broadly dif- 
ferentiated characters on which to base 
specific rank. 
Fiz. 1, 
pean at Left: 
American at Right. 
leaf blight. 
ws 
Types of Chestnut Foliage. 
(2) Japanese in Center: 
(1) Euro- 
(3) 
Note relative form, ser- 
rations, freedom of the Japanese only from 
