306 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



These two characters, of dwarf size and early fruitfulness, give 

 them special value. The nuts of the latter, despite their large size, 

 are not of the best quality. They lack sweetness, and the skin is of- 

 ten quite bitter and astringent, but as this is easily removed, and boil- 

 ing makes the meat more palatable, this method of preparation is 

 commonly employed in foreign countries where chestnuts have long 

 been a favorite article of food. In this country they have never been 

 looked upon in just that light, although a great many bushels are 

 used every year, and the supply never equals the demand. Many 

 districts in which the trees are abundant derive a very respectable 

 income from the sale of the nuts, and it is obvious that this is an in- 

 dustry which can be made far more productive and profitable than 

 it now is, since very little effort has been made toward cultivation. 

 Only the natural, spontaneous product has been gathered. 



In raising chestnut trees from the seed special care and pains 

 should be taken to secure fresh nuts which have not had time to 

 become dry, or have been carefully packed so as to preserve their 

 moisture. It is surprising how quickly they lose moisture in a 

 warm and dry atmosphere, and, as loss of moisture means loss of 

 germinative power, too great pains can scarcely be taken with nuts 

 intended for seed. They may be planted in the fall or buried in the 

 ground until spring and then planted. The former is generally the 

 better plan. The objection commonly raised to fall planting is the 

 danger that the nuts will be destroyed by burrowing animals. This 

 should be anticipated by planting at least twice as many as the 

 number of trees desired. It may be doubted whether spring planted 

 nuts are not fully as liable to destruction by this means as are any 

 other. 



Care should be taken that they are not carelessly put so deep 

 that the stem finds difficulty in getting into the air, nor so poorly 

 covered that they will dry out before germination. The use of the 

 foot in seed sowing to press the ground about the nut should be 

 carefully observed. On rough, stony ground containing roots of 

 various shrubs all the operations of planting are more tedious than 

 in other situations, but success cannot be had without proper observ- 

 ance of them. Very bushy land must be cut and burned over before 

 planting. It must not be supposed that because the chestnut is a 

 forest tree it will grow anywhere. After it is once thoroughly estab- 

 lished it will hold its own, but in order to get a start and foothold it 

 must have much the same help and protection which are given to 

 any cultivated plant. The seedlings must have light and air and 

 will not thrive in the shade nor when crowded by sprout-growth or 

 other vegetation. Transplanting seedling trees can of course be 

 done, but so far as experience goes, it is always attended by a check 

 on growth and vigor which lasts two years or more, and they are 

 easily outsripped by the others. 



Transplanting larger trees is probably no more difficult than the 

 transplanting of oak, hickory and other trees of this class, and, 

 where time is an object and the number desired is not large, this 

 means would naturally be employed. 



