100 



SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



" Our swine do not perhaps often feed on Chestnuts 

 now, though those of British growth are still at their mercy 

 sometimes; but more frequently of deer. Ben Jonson 

 speaks of 



' A chestnutj whilk hath larded many a swine.' 



" The best tables in France and Italy make them a 

 service, eating them with salt, in wdne or juice of lemon 

 and sugar, being first roasted in the embers ; and doubt- 

 less we might propagate their use among our common 

 people, being a food so cheap and so lasting. In Italy 

 they boil them in wine, and then smoke them a little; 

 these they call anseri or geese, I know not why : those 

 of Piedmont add fennel and nutmeg to their w^ne, but 

 first they peel them. Others macerate them in rose- 

 water. Bread of the flour is exceedingly nutritive ; it is 

 a robust food, and makes women Avell-complexioned, as 

 I have read in a good author. They also make fritters 

 of Chestnut flour, which they wet with rose-water, and 

 sprinkle with grated parmigiano, and so fry them in 

 fresh butter for a delicate. How we here use Chestnuts, 

 in stewed meats and beatille pies, our French cooks 

 teach us; and this is in truth their very best use, and 

 very commendable." 



Thunberg tells us, that at the Cape of Good Hope 

 they are eaten by way of dessert, roasted with butter *. 



Eaten raw, or in bread, they are not considered very 

 easy of digestion. The best way to preserve them is in 

 earthen vessels, in a cold place, or in dry sand. 



The leaves are a good litter for cattle, and make good 

 mattresses to lie on ; but they make a crackling noise w^hen 

 a person turns upon them, whence they are called in 



* Thunberg's Travels, vol. ii. p. 131. 



