246 



On a variety of the Chestnut. 



best, or earliest, variety in the kingdom, is so great in the 

 very unfavourable situation in which it stands, that I am 

 satisfied that any given quantity of proper ground, planted 

 with such trees, in the warmer parts of England, would sup- 

 port a much larger population, even though half their pro- 

 duce were employed in fattening hogs, than an equal extent 

 of pasture. The tree, which I possess, is about thirty-five 

 years old, and has obviously not been grafted. 



I much wish it were in the power of the Society to 

 establish a garden, in which the comparative merits of dif- 

 ferent varieties of this and other fruits, and of the Potatoe 

 and other esculent plants, could be accurately proved and 

 annually reported. The agriculture of France, under the old 

 and present government, is supposed to have derived consi- 

 derable advantages from an establishment of this kind, the 

 Jardin des Plantes; and more than equal advantages might 

 arise in this country, where the cultivators of the soil are 

 generally much more enlightened, and always prepared to 

 introduce, and profit by, improvements of every kind. If 

 the most productive variety of the Potatoe alone, and those 

 best calculated for different soils, and seasons of the year, 

 could be dispersed over the island, that alone would prove 

 of no inconsiderable national importance. 



I remain, my dear Sir, &c. 



Thomas Andrew Knight. 



Downton, 

 November 28, 1811. 



