Among the French varieties of this species which are said to succeed admirably in California, a large proportion would probably do equally well in Delaware and further south. Among those worthy of trial I may name the _Avant Chataigne_, _Comale_, _Exalade_, _Green of Lemousin_, _Grosse Précoce_, _Jaune Rousse_, _Lyons_, _Merle_, _Nouzillard_, _Quercy_, etc. I have tried some of these, but with such indifferent results that they were abandoned. Cultivators of nut trees located in a milder climate, should take advantage of whatever improvements there have been made in Europe, by importing grafted trees or cions. There are a few ornamental varieties of the European chestnut, but none worthy of any special attention. [Illustration: FIG. 34. JAPAN GIANT CHESTNUT.] [Illustration: FIG. 35. SPINES OF JAPAN CHESTNUT.] JAPAN CHESTNUTS.--The first authentic account I have been able to find of the introduction of the Japan chestnut into this country, is of a number of trees received by S. B. Parsons & Co., Flushing, N. Y., 1876, from the late Thos. Hogg, who, as is well known to all horticulturists, spent several years in Japan collecting many rare kinds of trees and shrubs, which were shipped direct to Parsons & Co. The chestnut trees received in 1876 fruited two years later, or in 1878, and soon attracted attention, on account of the large size and excellent quality of the nuts and the precocious habits of the trees. The success of this typical variety of the Japanese species, as I have assumed to designate it, proved that there were oriental chestnuts--heretofore untested in this country--that were certainly worthy of an attempt to obtain. This variety, introduced by the Messrs. Parsons & Co., does not appear to have been disseminated under any distinct varietal name, but merely bears the rather meaningless one of Japan chestnut, and for the purpose of giving it a position where it may be recognized--by name at least--from other varieties more recently introduced, I shall take the liberty of calling it "Parsons' Japan."