42 



THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 



artist. Such an avenue stands in the park at 

 Mount Edgecumbe in Devonshire, and is by no 

 means the least interesting among the many beau- 

 tiful landscapes which there meet the eye at every 

 turn. 



The nuts of this tree, though not deleterious, 

 are unfit for human food, being very bitter. They 

 may, however, be applied to so many useful pur- 

 poses, that it is strange they are so much neg- 

 lected. Their medicinal efficacy on the animals 

 from which the tree takes its name, requires 

 confirmation ; yet they are excellent food for 

 deer, so that, where these animals are kept, 

 Horse Chestnuts might be planted in numbers 

 with great advantage. A writer in the Grardener's 

 Chronicle for 1843, states, that they form a very 

 nourishing food for sheep^ "Whilst," he says, 

 " I was at Geneva, in the autumn of 1837, I ob- 

 served every one collecting carefully the fruit of 

 the Horse Chestnut, and on enquiry, I learnt that 

 the butchers and holders of grazing stock, bought 

 it readily at a certain price per bushel. I en- 

 quired of my butcher, who himself kept a very 

 extensive grazing farm, and he told me it was 

 given to those sheep in particular that were fat- 

 tening. The Horse Chestnuts were well crushed, 

 something in the way, so I understood, that apples 

 are, previously to cider being made. In Switzer- 

 land they are crushed or cut up in a machine, 

 kept solely for that purpose ; then about two 

 pounds' weight is given morning and evening to 

 each sheep, who eat the food greedily ; it must be 

 portioned out to them, as too much would dis- 

 agree with them, it being of a very heating nature. 

 The butcher told me it gave an excellent rich 



