166 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
now growing in Europe, are not considered suitable food for 
man. ‘Those which furnish so large a portion of the food of 
all classes, in the southern countries of Europe, and an im- 
portant article of export, are cultivated varieties, with larger 
and sweeter nuts. This is an important fact. The nuts of 
the American tree are decidedly superior in flavor to most of 
those cultivated in Europe, but are much smaller, hardly a 
fourth part the size of the larger ones. Size and improved 
quality are the consequence of cultivation. By selecting the 
most valuable varieties of our native trees, and improving them 
by the arts of culture, we may hereafter obtain fruit superior to 
any now known. The extraordmarily rapid growth of the 
chestnut tree will give great facilities for the improvement of 
the species; and the abundance of the harvest from trees, 
affords another security against the failure incident to crops 
from bad seasons. ‘The valuable varieties of the foreign tree 
may be introduced by grafting, or by planting. ‘Ihe grafts, or 
plants, of the most desirable kinds, may be readily imported 
from the nurseries of France and England; and they may be 
found already growing in Winship’s and other nurseries in 
this State. 
The wood of the chestnut is coarse-grained, the circles of 
srowth being separated by numerous large pores or rather tubes; 
but it is strong and elastic, and very durable, even when ex- 
posed to alternations of dryness and moisture. It is, therefore, 
of great value for posts, which, when charred, will last more 
than twenty years, and for rails, in which form it will last half a 
century. It is also much used, as a substitute for oak and pine, 
in building; beams and joists, and other parts of the frame made 
of it, being almost imperishable. It is used for shingles, but is 
less valuable for this purpose, on account of its warping when 
exposed to heat. It is extensively employed in the manufac- 
ture of furniture. In the frame-work of articles to be covered 
with veneers of mahogany or other ornamental wood, it stands 
better than any other native wood. ‘The frames of bureaus 
and sofas, and the bottom and sides of drawers are made of it. 
For these purposes much of it is brought into Boston from 
Worcester County. It has been sometimes used for hoops, but 
