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SWEET CHESTNUT. 1 35 
come across fine Walnut-trees to this day, and occasionally to 
young ones growing wild in hedgerows and wastes. 
The old doggerel adage, “ A dog and a wife and a walnut- 
tree, the more they are beaten the better they be,” has reference 
to the manner of harvesting the ripe fruit. Evelyn says : “ In 
Italy they arm the tops of long poles with nails and iron for the 
purpose [of loosening the fruit], and believe the beating improves 
the tree ; which I no more believe than I do that discipline would 
reform a shrew.” He expresses no opinion on the question of 
beating dogs. 
Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa). 
Until about the middle of the last century the Chestnut was 
generally regarded as a genuine native of these islands. It is 
true that botanists felt that so large and longevous a tree, if 
native, should be found in the natural forests of this country, or 
even forming pure forest. These things they did not find, but, 
on the other hand, they were shown beams in ancient buildings, 
including Westminster Abbey, which were believed to be Chest- 
nut-wood, and this evidence seemed to point to the fact that 
Chestnut timber was grown much more plentifully in this country 
at the period when these old buildings were erected. Dr. 
Lindley, however, set the matter at rest by examination of the 
reputed Chestnut beams in the roof of Westminster Abbey, 
and proved that they were of Durmast Oak. A similar examina- 
tion of the timbers of the old Louvre in Paris, which were also 
reputed to be Chestnut, gave a similar result. A comparison 
of sections across the grain of Oak and Chestnut allows of no 
possibility of mistake, and it is now known that whilst the wood 
of young Chestnuts is tough and durable, that from old trees is 
brittle and comparatively worthless, except for firewood, which 
is exactly the opposite of Oak-wood. It is now generally agreed 
that its real home is in Asia Minor and Greece, whence it was 
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