THE CHESTNUT. 



19 



heavy rains, after the fallen chestnuts have been 

 collected and set on one side for drying, the tree is 

 beaten with long poles, to knock off the remaining 

 fruit. But the fruit thus collected is only consi- 

 dered fit for immediate use; and the greater part 

 is carried to the local markets or sent to Paris. 

 The husks of the chestnuts beaten off the trees 

 being generally attached to the nuts, they are 

 trodden off by peasants furnished vdth heavy sa- 

 bots, or wooden shoes, when the nuts are wanted 

 for present use ; but when they are to be pre- 

 served for a few months, they are generally kept 

 in their husks in heaps in the open air, or in 

 barrels of sand, which are sometimes actually 

 sprinkled with water in very dry seasons, in order to 

 preserve the full and plump character of the nuts. 



In the Cevennes, where chestnuts are an article 

 of food, the inhabitants have a process of kiln-dry- 

 ing them, so that they will keep good for two or 

 three years. The process consists in exposing 

 them on the floor of a kiln to the smoke of a smo- 

 thered wood fire. The heat is applied gently, so 

 as to make the internal moisture transpire through 

 the husk of the chestnut. The fire is kept gentle 

 for two or three days, and then is gradually in- 

 creased during nine or ten days. The chestnuts 

 are then turned with a shovel, and the fire is con- 

 tinued until they are ready. This is known by 

 taking out a few of them and threshing them ; if 

 they quit their inner skin, they are done. They 

 are then put into a bag, and threshed with sticks to 

 separate the external and internal husks. If the 

 husks are left on, the chestnuts become black, by 

 imbibing from the husk the empyreumatic oil of 

 the wood-smoke, and do not keep so well. In 



