24 



ThK IoURXAL 'of llKKKniTV 



9 



THE HYBRID AND ITS PARENTS 



In the center is one of the first nuts produced by the cross between the wild American chin- 

 quapin (shown at the right) and the Japanese chestnut at the left. The nuts of the 

 hybrid are midway in size between those of its parents, but in maturity and blight resistant 

 qualities, it seems to combine all the good characteristics of both ancestors. Photograph 

 natural size. (Figure 13.) 



thicker shells than chestnuts, they keep 

 their fine api^earance under exposure 

 much lonj^er. The quality ajjjjears to 

 vary slightly accordin*^ to the im- 

 mediate pollen parent, but is quite 

 comparable to that of our best wild 

 chestnuts — not quite as sweet as the 

 little wild chinquapins, but good enough 

 when cured to be enjoyed thoroughly 

 without cooking. There are none of 

 the starchy and tannin-like flavors so 

 common with the larger European and 

 Asiatic chestnuts and no hint of bitter- 

 ness in the inner skin as with the 

 immediate i)ollen ])arents. 



TREES ARE VALUABLE. 



The trees arc vigorous growers, deco- 

 rative from their compact form at all 

 times, but especially so when in fruit 

 and flower. They should ijrove highly 

 desirable for lawn ])lanting as well as 

 for nut growing. The size they would 

 ultimately attain, if continuously free 

 from disease, is jjroblcmatical. The 

 tallest is about nine feet high and eight 

 in s])read of branches at nine years from 

 but the seed, was once trans])lanted under 

 retarding circumstances. Their i)re- 

 cfjcity and ])rofusion in fruiting would 

 indicate that the trees are not likely to 

 attain large dimensions and that it 

 would be safe to plant them for orchard 

 purposes at least as near together as 

 ]Dcach trees — say twelve to fifteen feet 

 apart. Pro])agation of ])articular vari- 

 eties has not yet been attemi)ted, but 

 it is to be expected that they may 

 readily be grafted on seedling chin- 



quai^ins or resistant stocks of the 

 Asiatic types. 



It is to seedlings of these hybrids, 

 however, that we may reasonably look 

 for greater variation than is likely to 

 be had from direct hybridization of the 

 species. The germination percentage 

 of the hybrid nuts is rather low — there 

 ai)pears frequently a jDoor connection 

 between the embryo and the endospenn 

 — but about half ])roduce \'igorous seed- 

 lings with very diverse foliage, re- 

 sembling beech, oak and holly leaves 

 rather than chestnuts in the juvenile 

 stages. By the second year the foliage 

 segregates into the chinqua]:)in type 

 with slight, light tomentum on the 

 under surfaces and that of the chestnut, 

 hirger and clear green on both sides, 

 accompanied with the characteristic 

 branching of the res]xxtive tyj^es. 



The i)ollen ])arents of the best chin- 

 qua])in hybrids, with few exceptions, 

 were hotne raised varieties of (\ crcnata 

 and quite likely are ihemsehes liybrids 

 with our native ehestntU, as the two 

 species are believed lo inlerersoss 

 readily when grown near together. The 

 slight susceptibility of the chincjuaijin 

 hybrids to the bark disease — not 

 greater, certainly than that of the 

 KeilTer ])ear to the bacterial pear 

 blight — can thtis readily be explained. 

 The breeding of selected chinciuajjins 

 with pure Asiatics, particularly of the 

 Chinese fornis that are thought to be 

 highly resistant, might afi"ord even 

 better results than have yet been 

 secured in regard to this feature. 



