A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 55 



trackless wilds of Africa, South and Central America will be the greatest 

 agricultural regions of the world. 



Of the plants growing in the temperate zone, there is but one which will 

 become a substitute for the cereals. Where a wheat field produces from fifteen 

 to twenty -five bushels an acre, a Chestnut grove on the same area will produce 

 over and over again that amount of equally nutritious food. The Chestnut 

 grove requires no cultivation. The late frosts of Spring and the drouths of 

 Summer will not materially injure the crop where wheat crops would be 

 ruined. The fortunate owner of a Chestnut grove can gather his nuts in the 

 Fall, and the rest of the year he can labor at whatever task he chooses. In all 

 the countries of Southern Europe, Chestnut flour is largely consumed, and the 

 demand exceeds the supply. Bread, cakes, pies are made from the flour, and 

 the nuts also boiled and eaten whole. The European nut is much larger than 

 the American variety, grows on a larger tree, and is much more prolific. It will 

 flourish here, as has been proved by trial, and the larger Chestnut, which must 

 be cooked to be palatable, is now found in most of our markets. 



If Chestnut flour is such an excellent substitute for wheaten flour, and is 

 so easily and cheaply produced, why do we not find more people cultivating 

 Chestnut trees ? The Chestnut tree requires a long time to come to a bearing 

 age, though it continues to bear for centuries. The man who would plant a 

 Chestnut grove to-day would leave a rich legacy for his grandchildren, but 

 would himself receive little return for his expenditure. Few men wish to 

 lose the use of any considerable part of their land, in order that their posterity 

 may have a rich inheritance. Even in thickly populated European countries 

 no one plants a Chestnut grove. The groves are all of natural growth. The 

 farmer desires the present use of his land, and will not alienate it for the sake 

 of posterity. When once the Governments actively interest themselves in the 

 food problem of the future, Chestnut trees will be set out on Government 

 lands ; year by year small tracts of farm lands will be planted by their proprie- 

 tors, and in the course of a few generations Chestnut groves will abound. In 

 our country, where the various State Governments foster tree planting, where 

 there is an annual arbor day, why should not the trees planted be trees which, 

 as beautiful and long-lived as any trees that grow, at the same time would con- 

 tribute to the national food supply? If the State Governments of New 

 England and the middle Atlantic States desire to preserve the water powers of 

 their rivers by returning the shorn hills to forests once more, let them plant 

 Chestnut trees. If the States of the West desire to prevent disastrous floods 

 in the great rivers by establishing timber reservations on the higher lands, let 

 them plant Chestnut trees. If village communities desire to beautify the 

 drives of their vicinity by planting trees along the roadside, let them plant 

 Chestnut trees. 



