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them about half an inch thick with light mould. In the spring they will appear above ground, and if 
kept clear from weeds, and watered in dry weather, some of the sorts will grow above a foot high 
the first summer. The autumn or spring following, if they are close in the seed-bed, it will be 
proper to transplant them into a nursery, in rows at three feet distance, and two feet asunder in the 
rows; some say that two feet and a half by one foot and a half is sufficient; others recommend only 
two feet by a foot. In this situation they may remain three or four years, by which time they will 
be large enough to plant out for continuance. 
If the seeds are kept out of the ground till spring, they rarely come up the same year, and many 
times do not grow. When therefore they are to be transported to any distance, it will be proper to 
put them up in sand or earth. 
Genus 2. iEscuLUs. Horse-chesnut. Class VII. Heptandria. 
Order I. Monogynia. 
Species 1. Common Horse-chesnut. (TEsculus Hipocastanum.) 
This extremely ornamental tree is now sufficiently known by the beautiful parabolic form in which 
the branches are disposed, when the tree stands single: by its digitate leaves, composed of seven leaf¬ 
lets, serrate about the edge, the middle one largest, the outer ones smallest: and by its handsome, 
upright, pyramidal thyrses of white flowers, variegated with yellow or red towards the centre. 
Some of these, towards the top of the thyrse, are imperfect and abortive. The capsule, or nut, as 
it is commonly called, is divided internally into three cells according to Linnaeus; but sometimes 
into two only. 
This tree was in much greater esteem for avenues and walks formerly, than at present. It is 
come into disrepute, because the leaves decay early in the summer, so that it occasions a litter in 
gardens and plantations, from July till they are fallen; but notwithstanding this inconvenience, the 
tree has great merit, for it affords a noble shade very early; and during the time of its flowering, no 
tree has more beauty, for the extremities of the branches are terminated by fine spikes of flowers, so 
that every part of the tree seems covered with them, and being intermixed with the large digitate 
leaves, they make a noble appearance. There is however another inconveniency to which this beauti¬ 
ful tree is subject, namely, that it is does not resist stormy winds.* 
In the old way of planting these trees in avenues, great part of their beauty was lost; for when 
their branches meet, fewer flowers are produced, and most of these are hid from sight; their leaves 
will also decay much sooner in close plantations than in single trees: the great beauty of them is to 
stand singly upon lawns, or in parks, where their fruit will be of use to the deer, who are very fond 
of them. In such situations, especially when they can be placed so as to terminate a view, there is 
not a finer object than they afford during their season of flowering, which is in May; and when the 
weather is moderate, they will continue in beauty near a month. 
In the opinion of Mr. Gilpin, the Horse-chesnut is a heavy disagreeable tree. It forms its foliage 
generally in a round mass, with little appearance of those breaks which contribute to give an airiness 
and lightness, at least a richness and variety to the whole mass of foliage. This tree is however chiefly 
admired for its flower, which in itself is beautiful: but the whole tree together in flower is a glaring 
object, he says, totally unharmonious, and unpicturesque. In some situations indeed, and among a 
profusion of other wood, a single Horse-chesnut or two, in bloom, may be beautiful. As it forms 
* Evelyn, 
