962 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



be usee! and many Revolutionary 

 and early nineteenth century 

 houses were built of hewn oak 

 and chestnut frames, oak floors, 

 and chestnut sidings and shin- 

 gles. Later the opening up of 

 the virgin pineries of northern 

 Xew York, Pennsylvania and 

 the Lake States flooded the 

 country with white pine and 

 \i ical woods ceased to be so 

 largcK- used for biilding. par- 

 ticularly in the cities, but coun- 

 tr\' houses and barns are even 

 vet frei|uently framed of local 

 hardwood timbers, and one does 

 not have to go back many years 

 til find l)arns built of heavy 

 hand-hewn chestnut beams put 

 together with wooden pins. 

 Luilding of such construction 

 will outlast the modern framed 

 buildings built of lighter mate- 

 rials and jiut together with nails. 

 In the Appalachian Mountains, 

 even as far ncirth as Pennsylvania, to this day log cabins 

 are built of chestnut logs, sometimes in the round, some- 

 times hewn square. 



The earliest use of chestnut still remains one of its 

 important ones, for chestnut has been a fencing wood 

 of dressings of various kinds. At last when the tree can since Colonial times. Few woods split lengthwise easier 

 serve us no longer in any other way it forms the basic and straighter than chestnut, or are lighter or more 

 wood onto wdiich oak and other woods are \eneered to dural>le. Fence rails made of it will last a life time, 

 make our cofiins. The earlv settlers Iniilt their fences of chestnut rails. 



Courtesy Pcnna. Clicstiiitt Blight C oinmission. 



A CHESTM'T SlIIXGLK .MILL 

 While seventh on the list of woods used for shingles, chestnut is the leading hardwood u 



inirpose, its nearest competitor being oak. 



1 for tliat 

 Shingles made from it are very durable and weather to 



an attractive shade. These shingles sell locally for from $2..'jO to $;i.7.3 a thousand. 



same train travel goods shipped in boxes ami barrels 

 made of chestnut boards and staves. Fven the leather 

 for our shoes is tanned in an extract made from chest- 

 nut wood. In the Fall we munch hot roasted chestnuts 

 and many housewives feel that the}' are a necessary part 



ITS E.\KLN' HISTORV 



The early settlers encountereil 

 chestnut pretty well up and down 

 the eastern coast of the L'nited 

 States, and when food was 

 .scarce, if we are to believe our 

 .school histories, they were glad 

 to make use of its succulent nuts 

 as a serious [jart of their diet, 

 even as did the hidians. Sur- 

 rounded as they were by an un- 

 surjjassed wealth of timber, far 

 in excess of their immediate 

 neerls, the earliest colonists were 

 able to pick and choose, taking 

 only the best and finest for their 

 homes, using the rest for fenc- 

 ing and fuel, or burning it to 

 rid the fields of its presence. In 

 early Xew England white pine 

 was the chief building material. 

 Later wdien the local pine was 

 exhausted it was necessary to 

 fall back upon nati\e hardwoods. 

 ( )ak and chesttuit then began to 



Cijiirtcsy Pi'lnnl. lllcsllnit Bliillit Cotninissinn. 



CHKSTNUT FOR TELKPHONH AND TELEGRAPH POLES 



Next to cedar, chestnut is the leading wood for poles in the total amount used atuuially. When the 

 advent of the tele|ihone and telegraph created a demand for poles it did not take long before the 

 value of the chestnut was realized and east of the Mississijipi it outranks all other woods for this 

 purpose. 



