FUTURE OF THE CHESTNUT TREE 55 1 



THE FUTUEE OF THE CHESTNUT TREE IN NOETH 



AMEEICA 



Br Professor ARTHUR H. GRAVES 



TALE UNIVERSITY 



-\rrOW-A-DAYS one often hears the question, " What is going to be- 

 -iN come of our chestnut trees?" In fact, whenever the subject of 

 trees is broached in the course of a conversation, this inquiry is bound 

 to come out — not, as I believe, that the interrogator hopes to receive a 

 satisfactory answer, but more in the way of a general query. 



As I do not claim to be gifted with second sight, I do not mean to 

 imply by the title of this paper that I can foretell the future of this tree 

 — rather, in the same philosophical spirit of the interrogator, on the 

 basis of certain facts relating to the past and present history of the spe- 

 cies, I shall make an inquiry into its probable future. 



It is natural that the condition of this tree should arouse concern, 

 valuable as it is to us in a great variety of ways. For one thing, we are 

 always in need of woods which, like the chestnut, are comparatively 

 resistant to decay when in contact with the soil ; and this is one of the 

 main reasons why a large proportion of the railroad ties and telegraph 

 poles in the eastern United States are of chestnut. However, as far as 

 the finer, technical uses are concerned, such as interior finish of houses, 

 furniture, etc., it is a decidedly second-class material because of its 

 warping and checking tendencies; yet it is often used for these purposes, 

 where the element of cheapness is the chief consideration. By the un- 

 initiated, chestnut used in interior house finish may easily be mistaken 

 for the more expensive ash. One of the chief sources of tannic acid, im- 

 portant in leather manufacture, is our chestnut tree. And. every small 

 boy, not to mention his elders, knows the value of the nuts, which are 

 sweeter than those of its near relative, the European chestnut. 



In addition to these valuable properties, when it grows in the open, 

 the tree develops a massive, round head, with short, powerful trunk, and 

 low-sweeping limbs, which make it a most beautiful ornamental tree 

 (Fig. 2). 



The natural range of the chestnut (Castanm dentata), is from south- 

 ern Maine 1 to the valley of the Winooski Eiver in northern Vermont, to 

 southern Ontario, and along the shores of Lake Ontario 2 to southeastern 



i Knight, Ora W., ' ' Some Noteworthy Plants of the Penobscot Valley, ' ' 

 Ehodora, 8: 65-66, 1906. 



2 Sargent, C. S., " Silva of North America," 9: 14, 1896. 



