l6 CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT STATION, BULLETIN NO. 178. 



sprout tree grows much more rapidly in youth but the seed tree 

 will often overtake and pass it in forty-five or fifty years. 



Chestnut forms the larger part of the stand in the southern 

 counties of the state but decreases in the northern portion, where 

 white pine is more abundant. East of the Connecticut River 

 it does not form as large a percentage of the stand as in the 



FIG. VIII. PURE STAND OF CHESTNUT. 



western part of the state. It usually occurs in pure stands or 

 mixed with oak, tulip, and other hardwoods. 



CHARACTER OF WOOD AND UTILIZATION. 



Its wood is durable in contact with the soil and has been 

 largely used in the form of posts, ties, and other products which 

 are exposed to the weather.' The stands in the northern portion 

 of the state have been coaled a number of times to furnish char- 

 coal for the iron mines which have been in operation there since 

 colonial days. The wood is soft and easy to cut, and when dry 

 burns with a steady heat leaving little ash, which fact has 

 resulted in the use of this species to the almost total exclusion 



