340 



THE planter's guide. 



and other animals than the nuts, which bj many of them 

 are preferred to acorns. 



The uses of the wood of the Chestnut, like that of the 

 Oak, are almost uniyersal. In some of these it surpasses 

 the Oak itself, particularly in making vessels and casks 

 for wine and other liquors ; as, when it is once duly 

 seasoned, it neither shrinks nor swells. This excellence 

 is well known in Italy, where it is held in greater esteem 

 than any other timber. For buildings it is very service- 

 able, and for all mill and water machinery. Chestnut 

 pipes, for the conveyance of water, are of longer endurance 

 than even those of Elm ; and poles for hops and vines, 

 and likewise stakes of any sort, made of this wood, are 

 preferred to every other for the same reason. Professor 

 Martyn adduces satisfactory evidence to show, that Chest- 

 nut gate-posts have been known to last more than half a 

 century. It has been mentioned above that the nuts are 

 grateful to animals; but in France and Italy they make a 

 wholesome bread for the human species ; and also an 

 elegant service, in various shapes, at the tables of the 

 luxurious. 



It is a remarkable fact that the Chestnut abounded 

 much more in Britain two or three centuries since than 

 it does at present; although its scarcity has been lamented 

 by every writer on planting, from the days of Evelyn and 

 Miller down to our own times. Perhaps a disposition to 

 decay at the heart, while it exhibits a healthful exterior, 

 or what Evelyn calls a want of " sincerity may have 

 excited against this wood some degi^ee of prejudice : but 

 nothing can entirely account for the neglect of it in 

 England, except the abundant importation, which has of 

 late years taken place, of Fir-wood from the shores of the 

 Baltic and from America. There is no doubt but that 

 the old houses in London and Gloucester were constructed 



