tHE PRINCIPLES OP BOTANY. 725 
tion of different kinds of cattle cake. For this purpose 
beech mast is even imported from warmer climates after the 
oil, there more abundant, is extracted, and thus the dry husk is 
one of the ingredients which forms the buffum for sophisti¬ 
cating linseed cake. 
2. The Chesnut, or Chestnut, though considered by 
some as a doubtful native, can yet boast of living ex¬ 
amples in England of magnificent size, more than a thou¬ 
sand years old. Strutt says: ff The Tortworth chestnut is 
probably the oldest tree now in England. It is brought 
forward as evidence by Dr. Ducarel, in his contest with 
Daines Barrington, respecting chesnut being a native of 
Britain, as a proof that it is indigenous. In the reign 
of Stephen, who ascended the throne in 1135, it was deemed 
so remarkable for its size that, as still appears on record, it 
was well known as a signal boundary to the manor of 
Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, where it stands. It is also 
mentioned as such by Evelyn in his ‘ Sylva.’ At the time 
that it was thus conspicuous for its magnitude and vigour, 
we may reasonably suppose it to have been in its prime; if, 
therefore, we pay regard to the received opinion which is 
applied to the chesnut, equally with the oak, that it is 300 
years in coming to perfection, this calculation takes us back 
to the beginning of the reign of Egbert, in the year 800, 
for the commencement of the existence of the Tortworth 
chesnut. Since that epoch above 1000 years have rolled 
over its yet green head .”—Sylva Britannica, pp. 82, 83. 
When we last visited this remarkable tree it still possessed 
a vigorous foliage overtopping the gnarled trunk, which, as 
far as we remember, then measured fifty-seven feet in circum¬ 
ference. It is taken great care of by its noble proprietor, 
Earl Ducie, and is well worthy of a pilgrimage of hundreds 
of miles. Chestnuts flourish remarkably well in different 
parts of England, those in Greenwich Park are still fine 
young trees. It is a beautiful tree for scenic effect, and we 
are told that those only who have visited the mountains of 
Calabria can properly estimate the beauty of Salvator Rosa’s 
wonderful landscapes in which this tree ever finds a place, 
and to which they lend a charm which even genius could 
hardly make any other kind of tree surpass, if equal. 
The chestnut has been highly extolled as a timber tree, 
but we think for the most part upon insufficient evidence. 
Much of the fame of this wood has arisen from the notion 
that some of the best old roofs of the kingdom were supposed 
to have been formed of its timber. Thus Strutt says— 
“ Many of the most ancient houses in London were built of 
