662 ] ouriial of Agriculture . [lo Oct., 1910. 



It would appear that the depopulation of some of the poor rocky districts 

 of the central plateau of France, where scarcely any form of agriculture 

 is possible, is directly due to the disappearance of this tree. 



M. J. Farcy, writing in la Revue de Yiticiilture, 3rd September, 1908, 



says : — 



Meanwhile, Ardeche is advancing at a rapid rate towards its ruin and its de- 

 population. The chestnut is, in fact, an extremely precious tree for the peasant 

 of our mountains, and one which it is difficult to see how he will ever be able 

 to do without. It furnishes him with food for himself and his pigs, leaves for 

 winter feed for his goats and sheep, firewood to warm himself with, and now gold 

 (louis d"(jr) b}- sale to the factories. 



After g<iing into the question of the value per acre thus realized, which 

 he estimates at about 1,100 f. per hectare (^17 12s. per acre), he con- 

 tinues : — 



This is, as one can see, a fairly low price, but the seller, often ])ressed for want 

 of money, only sees the 1,100 francs immediately within his reach and does not 

 consider that he is about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. 



The national importance of chestnut culture is also recognised in Italy, 

 the Government of which country is taking active steps to encourage 

 replantation. Between 1890 and 1900 over 3,000.000 grafted chestnut 

 trees were distributed to farmers. 



The Chestnut Disease. 



About the middle of last century a somewhat mysterious malady made 

 its appearance in the chestnut plantations of Southern Europe. Up to 

 date it has caused the destruction of some 25,000 acres of plantations; not 

 a very large proportion of the whole, perhaps, but nevertheless sufficient 

 to cau.se alarm in districts where the tree is of really capital importance. 



Known popularly as la maladie de Vencre (ink disease), its true 

 nature ha.'^. given rise to much discussion, and even now authorities are not 

 unanimous as to its cause. It is fortunately a slow spreading disea.se. 



According to M. L. Mangin| : — 



It is . . . contagious, spreading gradual!)- like an oil mark [taclie iPlniile) 

 around each diseased patch and causing the disappearance of all trees old or 

 young, in rich as well as in poor soil. ... I have shown that the seat of the 

 disease is localized in the smallest roots of the chestnut tree which are invaded by a 

 fungus parasite MycelofJiagus Castanea. This parasite progressively destroys the 

 absorbing i.vgans of the tree, the foliage turns yellow, the leaves become dry, and 

 the tree ilies in two or three years, sometimes more, often less. 



In order to combat the disease no cure has yet been found. The case 

 is a similar one tO' that of the Phylloxera of the vine. The principal 

 means of checking its spread is by the extinction method, consisting in the 

 eradication of attacked areas. The slow spread of the disea.se renders 

 this practicable and also profitable, as the trees eradicated are utilized for 

 the manufacture of tannin. Recently, another solution has been suggested 

 which continues still further the parallelism with vine phylloxera referred 

 to above, viz., grafting on resistant stocks. 



Several other species of Castanea. notably C . creiiaia. indigenous to 

 Japan and C . deniata, an American species, were said to be resistant, and 

 have been experimented with. C. crenata, after seven years' trial, re 

 planted in the same place where ordinary European trees had succumbed, 

 has proved its power of resisting the disease. The American species has 

 not, howin'cr. been found a success. 



X Rcvuc de Viticulture, vol. XXI., p. 19. 



