340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
The Chestnut as an Ornamental Tree. 
If the chestnuts ever bloomed more copious- 
ly than they did this summer, we failed to notice 
them. For many days it was a pleasure to see 
their masses of flowers and glossy foliage, and 
we wondered why the chestnut was so seldom 
used as an ornamental tree. It has every desir- 
able quality to recommend it; it is perfectly 
hardy, makes a rapid growth, and has great dig- 
nity of habit. It forms a dense shade, 
and its glossy foliage, but little liable 
to the attacks of insects, produces 
admirable effects in contrast with 
trees of a lighter color. It is most 
beautiful when in flower, its abundant, 
long racemes appearing in great num- 
bers at the end of every twig, and the 
effect of the whole is one of airiness 
and grace. The blossoms are of a 
yellowish-white, or cream color, and 
are produced in such masses as to 
make the tree a conspicuous object. 
Then it blooms the latest of all our 
forest trees. As we write, in the mid- 
dle of July, our woods are gay with 
them. Many persons wonder how 
such a long and slender blossom can 
produce chestnuts. But few people 
carefully examine the flowers of forest 
trees. The flowers which make the 
show are not the ones which produce 
the fruit. The chestnut is a Mona- 
cious tree, i. e., produces flowers which 
are all staminate (male), and others 
which are all pistillate (female), on 
the same tree. The staminate and 
sterile flowers are those which make 
the most, show. The individual flowers 
are small, with many stamens, and 
are irregularly clustered together on 
a long and slender stem, forming what 
the botanists call acatliin. The pistil- 
late or fertile flowers appear at the 
base of the upper catkins of the sterile 
ones. There are usually three of these 
inclosed in a leafy envelope or in- '-' JFj 
volucre, which afterwards becomes 4. } 
the prickly chestnut bur. The en- 
graving, though reduced in size, shows 
the two kinds of flowers distinctly, as 
well as the general appearance of a 
flowering stem. The catkins of stam- 
inate flowers are sometimes work- 
ed into summer bouquets, to which 
they impart a graceful appearance. 
The Chestnut is easily raised from 
the seed, provided it is not allowed to be- 
come dry. The nuts, after a day's exposure to 
the sun, should be packed in sand until planted. 
Autumn planting, with a covering of forest 
leaves, would be best. Nursery trees are readi- 
ly transplanted, but trees from the woods, if 
taken after they are two or three years old, sel- 
dom live, unless they are first prepared by root- 
pruning. Our tree is considered as a form of 
the European Castarua vesca, which is known 
with us as the Marron and Italian chestnut. 
Our native trees present great differences in the 
size of the nuts, and doubtless one by experi- 
ment with the best native seedlings could make 
a great improvement in the fruit. In speaking 
of the chestnut as an ornamental tree, we do 
not forget its great value for timber. 
Setting Trees.—" T. O," Lockport, N. T., 
asks about setting trees. He evidently thinks 
that the year of the setting has to do with the 
year of bearing. He wishes to have fruit every 
year, and thinks that by planting a part of 
his orchard one year and a part the next, he 
will be able to get a half crop each year. The 
time of setting the tree has nothing to do with 
the time of its bearing. Some varieties are so 
precocious that the)' will even bear in the nursery 
rows, while others are ten years in coming into 
bearing. Orchards fruit every other year for 
the reason that in their " bearing year " they 
FLOWERS OF THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREE. 
carry too much, the trees become exhausted, and 
it takes a whole year for them to recuperate. 
In our rough way of doing things we have not 
yet reached the point of cultivating our orchards. 
It is cheaper for us to let the trees overbear one 
year and rest the next, than it 19 to thin the 
fruit and thus secure a moderate crop every 
year. Those who have dwarf apple trees thin 
their fruit and have a crop each year. Labor is 
not cheap enough to allow the thinning of fruit 
in the orchard, and it is better as things now 
are to have one year of plenty and another of 
scarcity, but the time of setting the trees in 
the orchard has nothing to do with it. 
Preparing for Spring Planting. 
Very few people know that the cabbages and 
cauliflowers which appear in June and July, as 
well as the lettuce, which comes much earlier, 
are all from seed sown in September. South of 
Pennsylvania, the young plants may be wintered 
in the open ground. In the latitude of New 
York we are obliged to use cold frames, in 
which the plants are placed to protect them 
against sudden changes. Seeds for plants for 
the earliest crop next spring are to be sown 
from the 10th to the 20th of the present month, 
in the open ground. The plants thus raised are 
to be kept in a dormant state through the win- 
ter in cold frames. The manner of constructing 
cold frames and the treatment of the 
plants we shall give in a timely ar- 
ticle. Let the seed be sown in a well- 
prepared bed, and keep the plants 
free from weeds, and properly thin- 
ned, so that they will not be drawn 
up and weak when transferred to the 
beds. If one is near a town it will 
pay to put in more plants than he 
needs for his own use, as in spring he 
will find a ready sale for the surplus. 
Drying-houses for Fruit. 
Several have inquired about houses 
for drying fruit. The most primitive 
arrangement we ever saw for drying 
fruit by heat was in Missouri. A fire- 
place was dug in a bank and covered 
with flagstones; the fire was made 
below, and the fruit was placed on 
the stones. A roof was built over 
the oven, to protect the fruit from 
rain and dew. The most elaborate 
and extensive arrangement we have 
seen was that of a large desiccating 
establishment, which prepared dried 
vegetables for the arm)' during the 
war. Here were immense chambers 
with pipes heated by steam running 
along the floor, above which were 
racks holding trays with canvas bot- 
toms, containing the vegetables to be 
dried. Where there is an)' consider- 
able amount of drying to be done, it 
is desirable to use artificial heat, as 
then one is independent of the weath- 
er, the drying goes on more rapidly, 
and insects can be kept away. There 
are several patented houses which no 
doubt answer a good purpose. We 
do not know what the patents cover, 
but we do not think that the principle 
of applying the heat below the thing 
to be dried can be patented, else every 
house heated by a hot air furnace is 
an infringement. We gave in June, 
1866, an illustration of a drying-house which 
shows the general principle, and will no 
doubt answer a good purpose. The object is to 
get a constant supply of hot air to pass over 
and among the fruit or other article to be dried, 
and to provide ventilators for the air to pass off 
as soon as it is charged with moisture. " W. 
H. K.," Northampton Co., Pa., says: "I intend 
to build a house 10 x 8 feet, and 9 feet high, with 
shelves all around from top to bottom, and heat 
the same with a stove. What do you think of 
it ?" We think that W. H. K will find trays 
which can be placed upon racks much more 
convenient than shelves, and that he will find 
it advantageous to put his stove in a pit, and 
carry the pipe around the building as low down 
as possible. Provide for admission of cold air 
below the pipe by openings which can be regu- 
lated and an adjustable ventilator at the roof. 
Those who have hot-bed frames and sashes will 
find them of use in drying fruit, etc., and a 
very convenient substitute for a drying-house. 
