966 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



white pine are the leaders. Chestnut is seventh on the 

 list, but it is the leading hardwood, its nearest com- 

 petitor being oak. In 1!(()!» iU,'; ii{;,00() chestnut shingles 

 were nianufacture<l, which was three times that of all 

 the oaks combined. No other hardwood was important 

 enough for mention. The above figure presuma1)ly does 

 not inclu<le the large number of hand-made chestnut 

 shingles made in the Southern Appalachians. Chestnut 

 shingles are very durable and weather to an attractive 

 shade. Their chief disadvantage seems to be that the 

 tannin in the wootl leaches out ;inil in lime rusts the 

 nails with which thev are laved. It is also h.'ird to get 



(-otiitcsy Fciina. (.Iwstimt HHi/lit (-oiniiiissioti. 



MORTISICD CHESTNUT FEN'CF. POSTS 



A great de.ll of tlie blight-lcilled cliestnilt of Pennsylvaiia and adjoining 

 States is being used for this purpose. 



nnich chestinU shingle stock free from the worm Imle^ 

 pre\iously mentioned, ami these cause ihcm to le:ik. It 

 seems as though it ought to be possible tij work up a mar- 

 ket for chestnut shingles to be used as side shingles on 

 cottages and suburb.an residences. Their attractive ,gr;iv 

 color when weathered is as pleasing as white cedar, and 

 the supply is unlimited. The use of gaKanized n.iil- 

 should overcome one difficulty, ;ind leakage thrf)ugli the 

 worm holes would not be im|)ortaut if shingles were 

 laid on sides instead of roofs. Chestnut shingles sell 

 liic.ally for from $"?."i() to $.'l.^-") per tlmusand. 



i.i;.\Di;s .\^M) prices 



Chestnut lumber is divided into two groups according 



to whether or not it contains worm holes, since they are 



liable to be f(jund in wood of almost ;iny quality. While 



these worm Imles lower the grade, the wood itself is 



otherwise unaffected, so that the wormy material is itself 

 ilivided into the same grades as the non-wormy. A list 

 of the grades and the wholesale prices per thousand feet 

 board measure for lumber produced at representative 

 southern mills for the first half of 1913 (when lumber 

 prices were more normal than at this writing) is as 

 f(.)llows : 



Firsts and seconds 1/4 $43.40 



No. 1 common 4/4 29.40 



No. 2 common and sound wormy 4/4. . . . 13.20 

 No. 3 common 4/4 '. 10.00 



The prices prevailing at the mills in the early part of 

 19 1:1 for the various grades iiUo which sound wormy is 

 sometimes diviiled were as follows: 



Firsts and seconds 4/4 $17.00 



(Juarter sawed 4/4 1(1.50 



No. 1 common and Ijetter 4/4 14.00 



No. 2 common 4/4 10.50 



No. '■> common 1/4 8.50 



.\t times sound wormy has a\eraged as high as $18.00 

 per thousand. The a\erage mill run price at southern 

 mills at the [)eriod of the above quotations was $16.50. 

 Chotnut from the southern mills generally commands 

 higher prices than that produced by portable mills from 

 tlie woodlots of the North, chiefly because of its superior 

 maiuifacture and grading. 



The ten leading States in production are West Vir- 

 ginia. I'ennsylvania, Coimecticut, Teiuiessee, Virginia. 

 North Carolina, Kentucky, IVIaryland, Massachusetts, 

 New ^'ork. With the exception of Connecticut and 

 1 'enns\ I\ ania. the leaders are all in the Southern .\]>pa- 

 lachians, where over ')'i [ler cent of the total was pro- 

 iluced. 



Despite its present suiiremacy, chestnut was long un- 

 recognized as an important jjroducer of lumber. The 

 old Inmljermen of the .Appalachians took only the poplar 

 and the cream of the oak and b;isswoo<l, but now opera- 

 tors are going back over the old cuttings and taking the 

 chestnut along with the rest of the other trees. 



CIII'.STNl'T AS A NUT TREE 



Chestnuts whether roasted or in turkey dressing re- 

 i|uire no introduction. 4'here are no statistics to show 

 how many bushels of chestmUs are marketed every fall, 

 biU one has only to visit the jtroduce houses in our large 

 cities at the proper season — or, better still, the country 

 stores and express offices in the small towns in the Appa- 

 lachian Mountain.s — to realize that it is large indeed, for 

 the ])idk of the nuts on the market come from these 

 mountains. W'ith the first frost, the women and children 

 seek the woods to collect the freshly fallen nuts, taking 

 them to the country stores, where they are s»ld or ex- 

 changed for other commodities. The storekeepers ship 

 them to market as speedily as possible, for there is always 

 a rush to get the earliest nuts in, since they command 

 the highest prices. .\s high as $3.00 per bushel is some- 

 tnnes paid for the first arrivals. Later the price may 

 dirop to almost nothing when the market will absorb no 

 more, but as winter approaches it rises again. Realizing 

 tlie value of the nuts, some of the mountaineer farmers 

 have selected suitable tracts of chestnut growlh on 



