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Loii^" IsIjiih], and ilic clays soils of (lie ( 'oiiiicct iciil N'ulley, 

 wliicli arc made up of ih-' Liranilr ci-osion of llic W'liiic .\I(»iiii- 

 laiiis, all .yield but lililr lime (Jriiiiit(i soils yi(dd jjolasli, but 

 our analysis shows thai our clicstuut tree needs 120 times as 

 mnrli lime as potash. It was broujiiit out at the eonveution 

 thai I he i)iac(' wiiei-c tlir clicsliint trees attained the {greatest 

 age was in Eastern Tenuessee, where they grew to the immense 

 size of six feet or inoi'e through. If you will tak<* a geok)gic'al 

 nia]) of Teunesee, and look at the I'ock foi-mation in the region 

 (if Kno.wille, yon will be impressed with the large area of lime- 

 stone and lime shale ontcrojts in that region. Please note that 

 it was also slated in (he Convention that there is no blight as 

 far as is now known in the whole State of Tennessee. If trees 

 can he shown there that are 500 j-^ears old and free from blight, 

 gi'owing on a lime shale or limestone soil, it will go far to sup- 

 port our sup[)osition that the blight is not so much a dread 

 disease that threatens to sweep away our native chestnut trees, 

 as it is an evi<len('e that blighted trees are merely trees that are 

 starved foi- want of lime in the soil on which the tree is growing. 

 It will not take ovei' six weeks or tw(» months to collect sam- 

 ples of soils from every state represented at the convention, 

 and analyze them. If the soil where the blighted trees are 

 growing show on analysis a low lime content, as against a 

 high lime content where the trees grow Istrge, then we will know 

 almost beyond the shadow of a doubt that the blight is most 

 likely to be caused by lack of lime, but in order to fully prove 

 the supposition, / vould rrcominrnd that .solutions of lime water 

 he stoakeil into the fironnd tJioroiif/Jil}/ around trees InioiDi to he 

 ajfccted irilJi the Jilif/lit. and soaJ: the f/round around the trees 

 as far as the hranehes ahove extend out. Soak the (/round thor- 

 ouf/hli/ for a distiinec of two or three feet down, so that ever if 

 root hi ft and little irill f/et a little lime in solution in which shape 

 if is readiJi/ taken up hi/ the roots. The)i s/tra// the trees ahove 

 with the Bordeau.r mi.rture as well. The reason why I recom- 

 mend lime water solution soaked into the ground, instead of 

 scattering lime around uiuler the trees is this: It is known 

 that the sa]» in blighted trees is sour; this sonrness is not the 

 natural sourness of tannic acid, but an abnormal sourness; 

 therefore everv little fibre and ro(ttlet must be fed lime to cor- 



