The tree at this time has been compared to a huge chandelier,
and the erect blossoms to so many wax lights. The bitter nuts ripen
early in the autumn and fall from the tree, but long before this the
beautiful foliage has turned rusty in our Northern States, and is no
longer ornamental. The overshadowing branches, which give such a
pleasant shade in summer, early in autumn begin to show the ravages of
the insects or the natural decay of the leaves."
"Then," said Malcolm, "it isn't a nice tree to have, and I'm glad that
there are elms here instead."
"I should like to have some of all the trees," replied Clara, "because
then we could study about them better.--Wouldn't you, Miss Harson?"
"I think so," said her governess, "if they were not undesirable to have,
as some trees are. If it were always May, I should want horse-chestnut
trees; for I think there is scarcely anything so pretty as those fresh
leaves and blossoms. The branches, too, begin low down, and that gives
the tree a generous spreading look which is very attractive in the way
of shade. In more southern States they have a longer season of beauty
than those in the North."
"Do people ever eat the horse-chestnut?" asked Edith.
"Not often, dear--it is too bitter; but an old writer who lived in the
days when it was first seen in England says that he planted it in his
orchard as a fruit tree, between his mulberry and his walnut, and that
he roasted the chestnuts and ate them.
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