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CHINCAPIN. 
Castanea pumila. C. foliis ovalihus serratis, subtus incano-tomentosis ; fructu 
parvo, in singulis capsulis echinatis unico. 
The Chincapin is bounded northward by the eastern shore of the river 
Delaware, on which it is found to the distance of 100 miles from Cape 
May. It is more common in Maryland, and still more so in the lower part 
of Virginia, of the Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas and Louisiana, as far 
as the river of the Arkansas. In West Tennessee it is multiplied around 
the prairies enclosed in the forests, and it abounds throughout the Southern 
States wherever the Chesnut is wanting. 
In New' Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, the Chincapin is a large shrub 
rarely exceeding the height of 7 or 8 feet ; but, in South Carolina, Georgia 
and Lower Louisiana, it is sometimes 30 or 40 feet high and 12 or 15 
inches in diameter. 
The leaves are 3 or 4 inches long, sharply toothed, and similar in form 
to those of the American Chesnut, from which they are distinguished by 
their inferior size, and by the whitish complexion of their lower surface. 
The fructification, also, resembles that of the Chesnut in form and arrange- 
ment, but the flowers and fruit are only half as large, and the nut is con- 
vex on both sides and about the size of the wild hazel-nut. The nuts of 
the Chincapin are brought into the markets, and are eaten raw by children. 
The improvement of the Chesnut or of the Chincapin seems hardly to de- 
serve attention, since the cultivated variety of Europe can easily be pro- 
cured. 
In the south of the United States the Chincapin fructifies on the most 
arid lands, but it is stinted to 6 or 7 feet in height : its perfect development 
requires a cool and fertile soil. As it springs everywhere with facility, 
except in places liable to be covered ’with water, it is among the most 
common shrubs. 
The wood of this species is finer-grained, more compact, heavier, and 
perhaps more durable than that of the Chesnut. It is perfectly fitted for 
posts, and lasts in the earth more than forty years. Stocks of sufficient 
size are so rarely found, that it is only accidentally employed for this pur- 
pose, and if the method of forming enclosures practised in the centre of 
the United States should prevail in the south, the Pride of India would 
