84 A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 



until all are covered an inch or more deep. Stir vigorously with a stick, and 

 the light and faulty nuts will float, and may be skimmed off and fed to hogs to 

 destroy the worms. Leave the good nuts in the water five minutes, when the 

 eggs and little larvae will be scalded.. Pour off the water, or reheat it for 

 another batch. Put the nuts in coarse sacks, only half filling them. Lay them 

 in the best place to dry, shaking and turning often. The kernels of Chestnuts 

 so treated will not be hard in Winter, but will not grow if planted. 



Third, put in cold storage as soon as the nuts are gathered. This will 

 prevent the development of the eggs, and for market dealers is feasible. The 

 nuts may be taken out as the trade requires. A friend in the mountains of 

 North Carolina told me that he had found by trial, that Chestnuts put in a 

 box or sack, and buried in the earth a foot deep, did not become wormy, 

 because the conditions (perhaps of temperature) were not agreeable to the 

 hatching and growth of the insects. 



In cases where wild trees or bushes of the Chestnut and Chinquapin 

 abound, it is not possible to gather the wormy nuts as they fall, and destroy 

 them, or to jar and catch, or otherwise materially to lessen the number of 

 insects; but in isolated cases, these methods may be tried with hope of success. 



7-13-95 



The Rural New Yorker has given a description of the great Chestnut 

 Orchard of H. M. Engle, at Marietta, Pa. Mr. Engle sends us this report of 

 this year's prospect: 



So far as tree growth in the forest is concerned, it is a success. Their 

 bearing habit is also quite satisfactory, but the past few years the weevil has 

 been unusually destructive. Should they continue thus, or get worse, Chest- 

 nut culture on sprout land would be discouraging. On planted trees, away 

 from Chestnut timber land, we find very little damage from this cause. 



It will be remembered that Mr. Engle's orchard is on " sprout land." The 

 wild Chestnut trees were cut off, and improved varieties were grafted on the 

 sprouts which grew from the stumps. It will be very unfortunate if an insect 

 is able to offset, by its destructive work, the many advantages of this method. 



Varieties American. Although we occasionally see in our mar- 



kets very large and handsome specimens of the Amer- 

 ican Chestnut, there has been no, or but little, effort to improve this worthy 

 species. 



Hathaway. Originated with Mr. B. Hathaway, of Michigan, and is de- 

 scribed as a very large and handsome variety ; a strong, vigorous grower, and 

 productive. 



Phillips.- A large and handsome variety, of excellent flavor, with a very 

 smooth, dark-brown shell. Originated w y ith Whitman Phillips, at Ridgewood, 

 New Jersey. 



