﻿22 
  

  

  been 
  there 
  for 
  many 
  centuries. 
  I 
  asked 
  one 
  man 
  how 
  long 
  this 
  

   thing 
  had 
  been 
  going 
  on. 
  He 
  said 
  "two 
  hundred, 
  three 
  hundred, 
  

   five 
  hundred, 
  one 
  thousand 
  years, 
  always." 
  Nobody 
  knows 
  when 
  

   they 
  began 
  to 
  grow 
  chestnuts. 
  How 
  the 
  land 
  continues 
  to 
  grow 
  

   them 
  is 
  more 
  than 
  I 
  can 
  understand. 
  As 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  permanent 
  

   agriculture, 
  that 
  has 
  everything 
  I 
  have 
  ever 
  heard 
  of 
  beaten 
  out. 
  

   Those 
  people 
  had 
  not 
  fertilized 
  the 
  trees, 
  as 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  physical 
  

   impossibility 
  to 
  carry 
  anything 
  up 
  those 
  slopes; 
  everything 
  comes 
  

   down. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  taking 
  off 
  wood 
  and 
  nuts 
  always, 
  nothing 
  

   has 
  gone 
  back. 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  present 
  at 
  harvest 
  time 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  

   consulted 
  with 
  the 
  representatives 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Agricul- 
  

   ture 
  in 
  France 
  and 
  they 
  tell 
  me 
  this 
  land 
  produces 
  a 
  ton 
  to 
  three 
  

   thousand 
  pounds 
  to 
  the 
  acre, 
  with 
  the 
  big 
  years 
  doubling 
  that 
  and 
  

   the 
  little 
  years 
  halving 
  it. 
  This 
  without 
  taking 
  anything 
  away 
  from 
  

   the 
  land 
  apparently. 
  The 
  land 
  is 
  as 
  good 
  as 
  when 
  they 
  began, 
  and 
  

   is 
  supporting 
  a 
  dense 
  population 
  and 
  has 
  for 
  centuries. 
  

  

  Another 
  forage 
  nut 
  which 
  struck 
  me 
  as 
  even 
  more 
  important 
  than 
  

   the 
  chestnut, 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  much 
  wider 
  possibility 
  in 
  America, 
  is 
  

   the 
  acorn. 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  through 
  considerable 
  areas 
  in 
  Portugal 
  

   where 
  they 
  didn't 
  care 
  whether 
  they 
  had 
  a 
  cork 
  tree 
  or 
  an 
  oak. 
  

   Land 
  with 
  such 
  trees 
  is 
  worth 
  from 
  one 
  hundred 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  

   and 
  fifty 
  dollars 
  per 
  acre. 
  They 
  assured 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  acorn 
  oak 
  

   forest 
  was 
  as 
  valuable 
  as 
  the 
  cork 
  forest. 
  Some 
  of 
  this 
  land 
  is 
  

   wheat 
  land. 
  They 
  will 
  let 
  an 
  oak 
  tree 
  stand 
  right 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   a 
  field 
  where 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  improves 
  the 
  tree. 
  After 
  

   the 
  wheat 
  harvest 
  the 
  hogs 
  fatten 
  on 
  the 
  acorns. 
  

  

  The 
  evergreen 
  oak 
  of 
  southern 
  Europe 
  is 
  highly 
  prized 
  for 
  its 
  

   acorns. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  large 
  areas 
  of 
  bearing 
  trees. 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  told 
  

   time 
  and 
  again 
  that 
  they 
  bear 
  at 
  a 
  comparatively 
  early 
  age. 
  The 
  

   oak 
  is 
  capable 
  of 
  grafting, 
  about 
  as 
  easily 
  as 
  the 
  chestnut. 
  I 
  have 
  

   seen 
  them 
  grafted, 
  all 
  the-way 
  from 
  those 
  of 
  this 
  spring 
  up 
  to 
  three 
  

   hundred 
  years 
  old. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  trees 
  grafted 
  is 
  small, 
  but 
  that 
  

   in 
  no 
  way 
  affects 
  the 
  possibilities. 
  Certain 
  varieties 
  are 
  prized 
  as 
  

   much 
  as 
  chestnuts, 
  or 
  even 
  more, 
  and 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  acorns 
  is 
  set 
  by 
  

   the 
  price 
  of 
  chestnuts, 
  just 
  as 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  cornmeal 
  sets 
  the 
  price 
  

   for 
  chestnut 
  meal. 
  I 
  never 
  got 
  crop 
  records 
  for 
  a 
  solid 
  acre 
  of 
  oak 
  

   trees, 
  but 
  the 
  performance 
  of 
  individual 
  trees 
  gives 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  belief 
  

   that 
  the 
  acorn 
  crop 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  America 
  is 
  worthy 
  of 
  careful 
  

   study. 
  I 
  saw 
  a 
  tree 
  — 
  a 
  single 
  tree 
  — 
  that 
  I 
  was 
  assured 
  bore 
  more 
  

   than 
  twelve 
  hundred 
  quarts 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  year, 
  thirty-seven 
  bushels. 
  

   It 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  get 
  the 
  yield 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  forest, 
  but 
  this 
  tree 
  was 
  alone. 
  

   Its 
  sweep 
  was 
  seventeen 
  yards, 
  its 
  yearly 
  production 
  seemed 
  to 
  aver- 
  

  

  