&7 
through wind and rain. Also it was noticed that leaves, some of 
which had gotten enclosed in the bags, were still healthy and green. 
However, many of the pistils had fallen off inside the bags, either 
because the pollination had been unsuccessful or because they had 
been knocked off by the wind, or from both causes. Less than 
half of the pollinated pistil groups remained. For example, only 
five bags of the seventeen on the tree at Syosset contained growing 
nuts. 
The chestnut is reputed to be self sterile. If this were true it 
would not have been necessary to bag these trees at all after cross- 
ing with the American chestnut pollen; one might rely on the 
sterility of the tree’s own pollen. However, exceptions occur. 
Self fertilized trees are known to have developed a few nuts in 
some cases; and further, pollen from other somewhat distant 
trees might be brought by air currents. 
On September 18 two nuts were collected from one of the burrs 
on the Old Westbury tree. Only one other burr had developed to 
full size and this, being still unopened, was bagged to prevent 
possible loss of the fruit. On the basis of what I have said above 
about the self sterility of the chestnut, it is significant that those 
were the only burrs which developed on the Westbury tree. It 
would seem as if there were no question here but that a cross of 
the American and the Japanese species has been effected. 
On October 7 two burrs were collected from the Syosset tree 
yielding one nut apiece, and on October 14 three burrs from the 
Oyster Bay tree, yielding one, two, and two nuts respectively. 
These nuts (ten in all) have been kept all winter in the cool 
propagating house of the Conservatories, in sand and damp sphag- 
num moss, and are apparently in sound condition. They will be 
planted in pots about February 1. 
It should be stated that in addition to the work described above, 
sixty seedlings of the forest tvpe of Japanese chestnut were set 
out on land belonging to the writer at Hamden, Connecticut. 
These Japanese chestnuts, although not growing so tall and straight 
as the American species, give promise of furnishing timber for 
small telephone poles, fence posts, and wood for tannin extract, 
as well as furnishing desirable stock for crossing with the Ameri- 
can chestnut. Besides this, about three acres have been cleared 
and plowed to prepare them for future plantings of exotic and 
hybrid chestnuts. 
