90 



July 6 and 8. From Mr. E. J. Grassmann, Elizabeth, X. |. ('. 



dentata. 

 July 8. Eroni Mr. Joseph St. John, Monroe, X. Y. C. dentata. 

 July 10, 14, 15. From Mr. E. J. Grassmann, Elizabeth, X. J. 



C '. dentata. 



Lack ot space prevents us from recounting the various circum- 

 stances connected with each donation of pollen. But the case of 

 that received from the Stark Bros. Xurseries, Louisiana, Mo., is 

 ot such, general interest that we shall state it briefly here. We 

 might say incidentally that it was through Mr. Richard Lazarus 

 ot Brooklyn, our assistant in the pollination work' in the summers 

 of 1938 and 1939, that we received this pollen. In the settling of 

 the estate of Mr. Luther Burbank, the Stark Bros. Xurseries took 

 over various plant material there. But 1 shall let their letter speak 

 for itself. 



" When we took over the Burbank grounds there were about 500 chest- 

 nut trees in one row. They have since been cut down since Mrs. Burbank 

 is using the ground. However, before taking them out we selected some 

 ot the most vigorous seedling trees and transferred them here to our 

 grounds in Missouri. As a result we have about 10 trees here which are 

 about (S years old at this time. I have selected about 5 of these trees as 

 the most vigorous in the lot and the catkins you received are from these 

 trees. We will be interested in hearing of any results you obtain. 

 Assuring you 1 am glad to be of service, I am 



Sincerely yours, 

 (Signed) Glenn Thomas 



Special Service Department 

 Stark Bros'. Nurseries." 



Earlier in the letter Mr. Thomas has this to say in response to 

 a question on the pedigree of the trees bearing the pollen. 



I have been going through some of the records which we have here and 

 I find that back in 1884 Air. Burbank imported some Oriental chestnut 

 seedlings from Japan and some European chestnut seedlings from Italy, 

 and at the same time obtained some samples of chestnuts from the eastern 

 Tinted States and also some Chinquapins. According to the records these 

 sorts were all hybridized back and forth in sueb a way that Mr. Burbank 

 said 'all oi his chestnuts had a must complicated ancestry.' 1 find in the 

 records that at fust he was chiefly interested in getting from these crosses 

 a hybrid which would produce a large, sweet nut, also a tree which would 

 grow fast and bear young. Then when the chestnut blight became an 



