CHAP. CV.

CORYLA'CEJE. CASTA'NEA.

1991

useful as a fruit tree than for its timber. The wood of the chestnut, how-ever, has the remarkable property of being more durable when it is youngthan when it is old; the sap or outer wood very soon changing into heartwood; and hence the great value of this tree for posts, fencing-poles, stakes,hoops, &c. The wood, when green, weighs 68 lb. 9 oz. per cubic foot; andwhen dry, 41 lb. 2 oz. According to some authors, however, it weighs, whendry, 48 lb. The wood is easily distinguished from that of the oak, by thetransverse fibres being more confused, and much less evident to the naked eye,more especially in a section newly cut; so that, to ascertain whether a plankof timber is oak or chestnut, it is only necessary to saw off a thin slice at oneof its extremities. Bose agrees in this, and draws as a conclusion from it,that the annual layers of the wood not being freely united together by trans-verse fibres, must necessarily be liable to separate, and to become subject tothe disease which is called, in France , cadranure (literally, dialling). Thisdisease cannot be discovered till the tree is cut down; when it is found to beopen at the heart, with rents radiating from its centre towards the circum-ference ; in consequence of which the wood is unfit for being sawn into eitherplanks or beams, and can only be employed for laths or fencing. Bose foundthat of the trunks of 30 chestnut trees, about 1 ft. in diameter, which he hadseen cut down and squared in the forest of Montmorency, there were 20 inthe diseased state above described. Hence, he says, we seldom find any trunksof old chestnut trees, because this peculiarity in their organisation not onlyunfits them for every purpose of carpentry or joinery, but occasions them todecay from the centre outwards. To us it appears probable that this organ-isation, by lessening the communication of the juices of the tree in a horizontaldirection, may also be the cause why the sap wood so soon becomes heartwood. Be that as it may, it is clear that all that has been said in favour ofplanting the chestnut for its timber can only rank, in point of authority, withwhat has been said respecting planting the locust for the same purpose. TheFrench writers state that chestnut wood is a good deal used for making wine-casks; a circumstance noticed by Rapin, in his poem entitled The Garden ; —

** With close-grain’d chestnut, wood of sov’reign use,

For casking up the grape’s most powerful juice.”

Wine is said to ferment in chestnut casks more slowly, and be less likely toevaporate: it also does not contract any unpleasant taste. There is scarcelyany wood, according to Du Hamel , which makes better hoops, as these resistthe dry rot in cellars where every other kind of wood decays. Du Hamel observes, at the same time, that chestnut wood decays speedily, when it issubjected alternately to dryness and moisture. ( Exploit de Bois, p. 296.)Varennes de Fenille, on the other hand, states that, in La Bresse , posts ofchestnut are preferred to those of every other wood for forming the supportsof huts, notwithstanding these posts are subjected to the action of alternatehumidity and dryness. The wood of the chestnut is not much approved ofas fuel: it throws out sparks, and smoulders in the fire rather than flames jthough it gives out a great deal of heat. The charcoal, though good, is notof the first quality: it is inferior to that of the oak for domestic purposes, andfor iron founderies; but, according to Bose, and most other Continental writers,it is superior to that of oak, or any other wood, for forges; and it is muchused for that purpose in Biscay and in Spain . In Switzerland , chestnut woodis equally valued for forges; but, the tree being rare there, the charcoal is verydear. ( Hist. Nat. du Jordt, i. p. 9.) The same thing, Michaux informs us, isthe case in North America . The ashes of the wood of the chestnut furnisha great deal of potash. The bark, especially of young trees, is used for tan-nin g; but it only sells for half the price of that of oak. The leaves, in countryplaces in France , are used as litter for cattle; and, when dried, they are em-ployed, like those of the beech, by the poor, for stuffing mattresses. “ Butthose leafy beds,” Evelyn observes, “ for the crackling noise they make when°ne turns upon them, the French call lids de parliament.'’ {Hunt. Evel., i.