THL i'RA( IIC AL GARDENER. 



a residence, because," as he observes, " the flowers emit a very 

 disagreeable odour, which is offensive to most people." 



It is observed by Philips, that it is the tree which graces the 

 landscapes of Salvator Rosa, who painted on the mountains of 

 Calabria, where it flourishes. Its ramifications arc more strag- 

 gling than even those of the oak, while its foliage, which is 

 more loose and brilliant in colour, is less subject to the attacks 

 of insects; and its yellow and umber tints greatly relieve the 

 sable hue of the fir and the pine, and act like a blossom to en- 

 liven the month of November. 



This tree is propagated from seeds, which ripen in England 

 in October in line seasons, but seldom, if ever, in Scotland. 

 Nurserymen are supplied with kome-saved seeds in good sea- 

 sons, but, in unfavourable ones, from Spain, where this fruit is 

 yearly ripened and imported into this country from thence as an 

 article of luxury, and appears at our desserts from October till 

 April. Chestnuts imported are by far the best either for the 

 purpose of sowing or eating. They should be sown as soon as 

 gathered or imported, in seed-beds or in drills, and covered to 

 the depth of two or three inches. Mice and rats are very fond 

 of this seed, and if once they find them in the ground, it is no 

 easy matter to keep them off; attention should therefore be 

 paid to guard them against such enemies. When the young 

 plants appear in spring, and during the time they remain in the 

 seed-beds, they should be kept clear of weeds ; and the spring 

 subsequent to the sowing they should be taken up, sized and 

 transplanted into nursery lines twelve or fifteen inches distant, 

 and five or six inches apart in the line. The season following 

 they will require to be taken up and transplanted at greater dis- 

 tances, to afford them space to attain a proper size for final 

 planting out. Chestnuts may be planted out when three years 

 old, if the ground has been at all prepared for them; or they 

 may remain in the nursery till they be five or six years old, and 

 then may be planted out with success. 



The timber of the chestnut-tree very much resembles that of 

 the oak, and, according to Sang, approaches it in value next 

 to the ash and Scotch elm. But what has been long mistaken 

 for this wood in the roof of Westminster-Abbey, and that of 

 the Parliament-House at Edinburgh, and other old buildings 



