76 
INDIANAPOLIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ,. 
building timber. They are forty to sixty feet high, and of 
less diameter than the sugar maple. The soft maple is a 
favorite tree in this city for street planting,, owing to its 
quick growth, its handsome crimson and scarlet flowers in 
the spring, .and its graceful spreading branches, for the 
street we think it over estimated, as it lacks strength, its- 
straggling arms require frequent heading in, and it is too 
weak to resist heavy winds. 
Aesculus —Horse-chestnut, Buckeye. 
Ae. glabra —Fetid or Ohio Buckeye. 
Ae. Jlava — Yellow or Sweet Buckeye. 
The Buckeyes are widely distributed through the forests- 
of the State. Their size varies as widely as their distribu¬ 
tion, growing from twenty to eighty feet in height. These 
much calumniated trees deserve a better reputation. The 
learned and unlearned unite in discrediting them for either 
use or ornament. Some authorities dispose of them by 
saying “of no use except for firewood.” On the other 
hand, the wood is both too tough and soft for firewood, and 
of increasing use in many arts. They are among the ear¬ 
liest trees to put forth leaves in the spring; are lusty 
growers, and the wood is used in the manufacture of a 
large variety of the fruit baskets, wooden bowls, trays,. 
boxes for engine journals, and other purposes where tough 
material, useless for most other manufactures, is needed. 
Polished and simply varnished, it has a satin finish and 
makes lovely inside window blinds. The Buckeye is not 
admired as a shade free owing to its leaves falling early in 
the fall, and its propensity to throw out an unpleasant 
odor during the season of bloom. 
Castanea vesca , Americana —Chestnut. 
The growth of the chestnut is limited to small areas- 
principally on the hills of the southern central portions of 
the State. It is most frequently seen in Central and 
