CHESTNUT 



CHESTNUT 



745 



outside of the native range of the American chestnut, 

 they may reasonably be expected to remain practically 

 free from the disease, especially if care is exercised to 

 prevent its introduction from infested regions on 

 nursery stock or cions. The poor flavor and eating 

 quality of most of these varieties is their worst fault, 

 but in view of their wide range of 

 variation in this respect, the problem 

 of producing resistant varieties of 



>od quality appears relatively simple, 

 he few trees of Korean and Chinese 

 chestnuts thus far grown in the east- 

 ern United States are apparently 

 quite resistant to the disease and 

 therefore of much interest to the tree 

 breeder as parents of possible resist- 

 ant forms. Systematic work on the 

 breeding of resistant varieties is being 

 prosecuted in the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. 



Varieties of chestnuts. 



The varieties of the three species, 

 although possessing many points in 

 common, differ sufficiently in impor- 

 tant characteristics to justify sepa- 

 rate grouping for cultural discussion. 

 As chestnut-culture is new in this 

 country, it seems best to append 

 descriptions of all the varieties which 

 are in the American trade. For fuller 

 discussion of cultivated chestnuts, see 

 Nut Culture in the United States 

 (Bull. Div. of Pomology, U. S. Dept. 

 of Agric.), from which Fig. 913 is 

 adapted; Nut Culturist, A. S. Fuller, 

 1896; European and Japanese Chest- 

 nuts in Eastern United States, G. 

 Harold Powell (Bull. Del. Exp. Sta- 

 tion), 1898; Nut Culture for Profit, 

 Jno. R. Parry, 1897. 



AMERICAN GROUP. Although the wild 

 nuts exhibit wide variations in size, form, 

 quality, productiveness, and season of ripen- 

 ing, but few varieties have been dignified by 

 names and propagated. Solitary trees are 

 frequently sterile, although producing both 

 staminate and pistillate flowers, apparently 

 requiring cross-fertilization to insure fruitful- 

 ness. This is especially true of planted trees 

 of this species on the Pacific slope, where 

 productive trees are reported to be rare. The 

 susceptibility of the species to injury by leaf 

 diseases, as pointed out by Powell, and the 

 injury to nuts by larvae of weevils, are draw- 

 backs to its extensive culture. 



The following varieties are propagated to 

 some extent: 



Dulaney. Bowling Green, Ky. Large, 

 and of fine quality. Original tree productive, 

 though isolated. 



Griffin. Griffin, Ga. A large, very downy 

 nut, of good quality. 



Hathaway. Little Prairie Ronde, Mich. 

 A large, light-colored, sweet nut, annually 

 productive, frequently having five to seven 

 nuts to the bur. 



Ketcham. Mountainville, N. Y. Above 

 medium in size, oblong, tomentose, sweet. 

 Tree productive and vigorous in heavy sod 

 at fifty years of age. 



Murrell. Coleman's Falls, Va. A large, 

 high-flavored nut, bearing three nuts to the 

 bur. 



Otto. Otto, Tenn. Large, oblong, very 

 downy at tip, very sweet, and rich. 



Rochester. Rochester, N. Y. First fruited at Alton, 111. Nuts 

 medium to large; somewhat rounded, usually three in a bur; of 

 dull brown color, downy at tip; quality excellent. Tree a very 

 rapid grower and a heavy bearer; ripens late. 



Watson. Fay, Pa. Medium to large, slightly downy, com- 

 pressed, very good. 



EUROPEAN GROUP. It is a significant fact that, during the 

 century that has elapsed since the introduction of this species, the 

 imported named varieties of Europe have not found favor in eastern 

 America. Seedling trees have been found productive and profitable 

 at many points in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary- 



916. Successive stages in the rava- 

 ges of the chestnut blight. 1909, 

 1910, 1911. 



land, however, and these form the basis of the culture of the species 

 east of the continental divide. West of the Rocky Mountains, 

 several of the choice French "Marrons" are reported to succeed in 

 California and Oregon. Among the more important varieties of the 

 European group in America, are the following: 



Anderson. Flushing, N. J. Bur medium to small; nuts of 

 medium size, bright reddish brown, pubescent at the tip and over 

 half of the nut. Tree a strong grower, with medium to small 

 leathery leaves. Very productive. 



Ba.TlTa.rn. Milltown, Pa. Bur medium to 

 small; nut medium, thickly pubescent at tip, 

 dark reddish mahogany color; three in a bur; 

 unusually free from insect attack; quality 

 good. Tree vigorous, spreading, with large 

 leaves; productive. 



Combale (Marron Combale). France. A 

 large and handsome, bright brown striped 

 nut, with but little tomentum at tip; usually 

 two, sometimes but one in a bur. Somewhat 

 grown in California, where it was introduced 

 from France about 1870. 



Chalon (syn., Marron Chalqn Early). 

 France. Sparingly grown in California. Nut 

 of medium size, early, productive, pre- 

 cocious. 



Corson. Plymouth Meeting, Pa. Bur 

 large, with thin husk; nuts large, usually 

 three in a bur; dark brown, ridged, heavily 

 pubescent at tip; quality very good. Tree 

 vigorous, spreading, very productive. 



Dager. Camden, Del. Bur medium; nut 

 medium to large, dark brown, thickly tomen- 

 tose, usually three in a bur; quality good. 

 Tree vigorous, spreading, productive; a seed- 

 ling of Ridgely. 



Darlington. Wilmington, Del. Bur me- 

 dium to small; nut medium to large, usu- 

 ally three in a bur; dark, distinctly striped, 

 thickly tomentose at tip; sweet, good. Tree 

 vigorous. One of the earliest to ripen of this 

 group. 



Lyon (Marron de Lyon). France. A large, 

 round nut of fair quality, grown in a small 

 way in California, but less productive than 

 Combale, which it resembles. 



Marron. This term is used by the French 

 to designate the larger cultivated chestnuts, 

 most of which have relatively few nuts, often 

 only one in a bur. 



Moncur. Dover, Del. A seedlingpf Ridgely. 

 Bur medium; nuts medium, of light color, 

 heavily tomentose. Tree vigorous, spreading, 

 very productive. 



Nouzillard. France. A large, handsome 

 variety from central France, and there con- 

 sidered very productive and valuable. Has 

 been tested in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 

 California without marked success in any 

 locality. 



Numbo. Morrisville, Pa. Bur medium 

 conical; nut large, from two to three in a 

 bur; bright brown striped, thinly tomentose, 

 of good quality. Tree compact and droop- 

 ing, rather uncertain in bearing. 



Paragon (syn., Great American; Sobers 

 Paragon). Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. 

 Bur very large; nut large, usually three in a 

 bur, broad, plump, thickly tomentose at the 

 tip, and thinly over two-thirds of surface, 

 color dull brown, quality very good. Tree 

 hardy, spreading, vigorous, with narrow, 

 coarsely serrate leaves having a narrow base; 

 subject to leaf-blight, but very productive. 

 The most widely planted and most uniformly 

 successful variety of chestnut yet cultivated 

 in the United States. Possibly a hybrid with 

 C. dentata. 



Quercy (syn., Marron Quercy). France. 

 A beautiful, medium-sized nut, commended in 

 portions of California for precocity, earli- 

 ness, productiveness and quality. 



Ridgely (syn., Du Pont). Dover, Del. 

 Bur medium; nut medium to large, moder- 

 ately tomentose, dark, of very good quality. 

 Tree vigorous, with narrow leaves free from 

 blight, spreading, very productive, hardy. 



Scott. Burlington, N. J. Bur medium; 

 nut medium, slightly pointed, usually three 

 in a bur; glossy, dark brown, slightly tomen- 

 tose at the tip. Tree open, spreading, very 

 productive; said to be comparatively free from attacks of weevil. 



Styer. Concordville, Pa. Bur medium; nut medium pointed, 

 dark brown, striped, tomentose at tip, 1 to 3 in a bur. Tree very 

 vigorous, upright, with large, dark green leaves; free from disease. 

 JAPANESE GROUP. Though most of the imported Japanese 

 chestnuts have been found of poor quality for eating in the fresh 

 state, the product of many imported seedling trees, and of a num- 

 ber of American-grown seedlings of this type, is equal to the Euro- 

 pean nut in this respect. The Japanese varieties in general have 

 the advantage, also, of greater precocity and productiveness, 

 larger size and earlier maturity of nut, greater freedom from injury 



