84 



lilies, by Mr, ( '. K. SoImm-, wIio Iijis Im'cii \\(H'kiii|j; willi (lie l*ur;i- 

 goii chestnut since 189G and 1897, in ISJJG Mr. Sober bej^jin to 

 graft the Sober Paragon cliestnut, as it is noAV called, on native; 

 chestnnt spronts. He had on liis farm in Irish Valley abont four 

 hundred acres of waste nionntain land. This mountain land lie 

 wislied to rechiim. It was not suitable for ordinary farm cro])S. 

 Ilis method was to remove (everything and, b}' means of cleaidi- 

 ness, whicli lie obtained by using the grubbing hoe, the saAV, the; 

 axe, and the pruning knife, and tlien burning everything, to keep 

 his growth clean. In this way he lioped to keep out the enemies, 

 such as the weevil, and another worse than tlie weevil, tlie burr 

 worm. There are two species of (he ])urr worm, one of which is 

 new to scienl is(s. It belong to the genus Holcocera, and lias been 

 named, in lioiior of Mr, Sober, JJolcoccra ^ohcrii. The otlier 

 larva, the adult of which is not known, is equally injurious, IJy 

 means of removing the nuts as soon as they emerge, removing 

 the burrs from the grove and Imrning the shucks as soon as the 

 jiuts are taken out, Mr, Sober on fifty acres has practically re- 

 moved the weevil and burr A\orm, so that last year the nuts 

 gathered from fifty acres contained scarcely a peck of wormy 

 chestnuts. He has done this by means of cleanliness in every way, 

 and by removing the larvae and not allowing them to mature. In 

 other parts of the grove it has not been possible to do this in 

 every respect, and there the weevil is an enemy. It has been his 

 custom, during the last ten years, to remove every dead liml) that 

 has appeared in the four hundred acres and if there was chestnut 

 blight, it has been cut off and burned. An actual count of i\\o. 

 chestnut trees now in the grove showed forty-four thousand an<l 

 thirty-five trees that are bearing, and in addition to those there 

 are others that are not yet matured. 



By means of (liese slides I will lake you in harvest time over 

 the grove as it now is, and (lu'ii, by means of other slides which 

 I have taken during the last ten years, show you the various steps 

 that have been taken in developing this grove. If we may have 

 the lantern, we will begin our trip. 



The first slide is a portrait of Mr. C. K. Sober. (Applause). 



The next slide represents a portion of a fifty-acre tract, as it 

 appeared when he took ])ossession of it. It Avas covered with 

 Avaste wood of various sorts. Very little of this was of any use. 



