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CASTANEA PUMILA (chinquapin chestnut).-Leaves oblong-lanceolate, short or acutely pointed, coarsely

serrate, with in

curved pointed

teeth, green above,

tomentose under

neath. Burs in racemes (Fig. 21), two-valved. Sometimes the burs are single, as shown in Fig. 22. Spines

branching from a

short stalk; nuts

solitary, ovoid, pointed, with darkbrown polished shell. Kernel finegrained, sweet and excellent. A medium-sized tree twenty to forty feet high; in rich soils from New Jersey, Southern Pennsylvania and southward, to Georgia, and sparingly westward to Arkansas.

CASTANEA SA

TIVA OR VESCA

(European chestnut).-Leaves ob

FIG. 22. SINGLE BUR, NUT AND LEAF OF

long-lanceolate, CHINQUAPIN CHESTNUT. C. pumila. pointed, coarsely serrate, with rather long incurved spines on the teeth; smooth on both sides, but glossy

FIG. 23. JAPAN CHESTNUT LEAF.

and dark green above; thicker and of more substance than in any other species. Burs very large, with thick husk, and long, stout, branching spines, from a woody stem at the base; shell of nut thick, tough and leathery, of a dark mahogany brown; kernel enclosed in a rather tough but thin skin that is usually intensely bitter, a characteristic that readily distinguishes this from any of our species. Trees of large size, rather stocky; young shoots coarse, with smooth bark; buds prominent. glossy, and of a light yellowish-brown color.

CASTANEA JAPONICA (Japan chestnut).—Leaves lanceolate-oblong (Fig. 23), finely serrate, indentations shallow, and the teeth slender pointed; pale green above and silvery or rusty white underneath. Burs with a very thin husk; spines short, widely branching from a short stem. Nuts large to very large, usually three in a bur; shell thin, and of a light brown color; the inner skin thin, fibrous, but not as bitter as in the European varieties, and the kernel somewhat finer grained and sweeter. Trees of moderate growth and are said to rarely exceed fifty feet high in Japan. The growth is slender in comparison with the European or American chestnut, and the habit is decidedly bushy, the new growth of the season usually producing a number of lateral twigs late in summer. The leaves here seem to be more persistent, probably because the season is not long enough to insure thorough ripening.

The reader will please bear in mind that this description of the Japan chestnut is drawn from the introduced varieties or those raised from the imported nuts, and not from the trees growing in their native habitats. All the varieties that I have seen appear to belong to one type or species, and they come from the warmer parts of that country; but Prof. Sargent, in his "Forest Flora of Japan," says that while the largest nuts appear in the markets of Kobe and Osaka, from whence they

come to this country, there are varieties offered for sale in the markets of Aomori, which is much further north, and these, he thinks, would produce a more hardy race of varieties than those we have already received from that country. As a race, all the Japan chestnuts are very precocious, the trees coming into bearing early whether raised from the nut or propagated by grafting.

Native Varieties. (Group One).-While it is well known that our American sweet chestnut varies widely in the size, flavor, form, color and general appearance of the nuts, no special effort has been made to select and perpetuate the most distinct and valuable varieties. This is to be regretted, inasmuch as the opportunities for making such selections, and preserving and propagating those most worthy of it, are rapidly passing away with the destruction of our chestnut forests; but there is still time to do something in this direction, and perhaps save a few varieties as valuable as those already destroyed. It is to be hoped that every man who knows of a large variety, will either propagate it himself, or point it out to some one who is sufficiently interested to do so. If proper attention was given to the raising of seedlings, we might soon secure many improved native varieties, and I would urge this mode of propagation upon all whose circumstances and surroundings will admit of it, and especially upon the young men who possess the talent and inclination to make such experiments; for there is a wide and fertile field open to them, and they can scarcely fail to reap a rich reward for their labors, if applied with earnestness and a moderate amount of intelligence.

BURLESS CHESTNUT.-This is a peculiar variety or freak, in which the burs are merely shallow cups upon which the nuts rest, and at no stage of their growth are they enclosed in a husk or bur. The nuts are small and usually perfect, but being unprotected they are preyed

apon by birds and squirrels as soon as the kernels are well formed, few escaping to reach maturity, This chestnut is of no economic value, but is worth preserving as an illustration of extremes in variation. The original tree was found in the forest near Freehold, Green Co., N. Y., by Mr. Harry Bagley, to whom I am indebted for cions sent me in the spring of 1885. Another and very similar variety was found about the same time on Staten Island, N. Y., and this also has been propagated, to a limited extent, as a curiosity.

HATHAWAY.-A very large and handsome native variety, and one of the very best. A strong and vigorous grower, and productive. Raised by Mr. B. Hathaway, the veteran and widely known pomologist of Little Prairie Ronde, Mich. Some thirty years ago Mr. Hathaway purchased a half bushel of native chestnuts of a dealer in Ohio, and from these raised a large number of trees for sale; but a few were reserved for planting out on his own grounds, and when these came into bearing the one named here was selected for propagation, because of its large size and productiveness.

PHILLIPS.-A large and handsome variety of excellent flavor, with a very smooth, dark-brown shell. Grafted trees exceedingly vigorous, upright growth, as well as precocious and productive. The original tree is growing in the grounds of the late Whitman Phillips, at Ridgewood, N. J. Several years ago my attention was called to a number of large varieties of the chestnut growing in and near the village, and from these I obtained cions for propagation; but I name only one at this time, reserving the others until more fully tested.

This is rather an insignificant number of varieties to be named among the many hundreds that are to be found in almost every town or neighborhood where the chestnut is a native, and yet I have been able to find only one named in nurserymen's catalogues as being

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