United States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 



NOTES OX FOREST TREES SUITABLE FOR PLANTING IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



CHESTNUT (Castanea dentata). 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The Chestnut is distributed throughout the eastern United States at 

 elevations varying from sea level in Massachusetts to 4,500 feet in North 

 Carolina. It ranges from southern Maine southward through New 

 England, being most abundant in the lower valleys of the Merrimac and 

 Connecticut rivers, but common in Rhode Island and Connecticut and 

 as far south as Delaware, except near the sea. It is common in the 

 Province of Ontario and in the Middle States, especially in New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland. Farther south it is found all 

 along the higher Alleghenies to Alabama, growing well in all soils 

 above 2,000 feet elevation, but less abundant below. In the middle 

 West it is confined to Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee. 



The area for economic planting outside of the natural range is rather 

 limited. The tree can be grown with fair success throughout Missouri 

 and Iowa, in the eastern counties of Nebraska and Kansas, and in the 

 southern half of Minnesota, but nowhere on prairie soil is it long-lived 

 or of first-class growth. In Colorado it grows well under irrigation, 

 and would probably succeed in other parts of the West if well watered. 

 If carried too far north the shoots fail to ripen before they are nipped 

 by the early frosts. The tree will endure the heat and cold of its 

 natural home, and will remain thrifty in sunny, dry situations, but is 

 very susceptible to injury from hot winds. 



SOIL, SITE, AND ASSOCIATE SPECIES. 



The Chestnut will thrive on various kinds of soil from almost pure 

 sand to coarse gravel, shale, or even limestone. On the latter, how- 

 ever, it is found only when the strata are tilted. In general it prefers 

 the dry, rocky land of the glacial drift to the richer, more compact 

 alluvial soil of the lowlands. It does not demand a rich soil. Its fail- 

 ure to grow in most of the prairie country is due, no doubt, to the allu- 

 vial nature of the soil and the frequent presence of lime. 



The finest Chestnut trees grow in the higher elevations of the southern 

 Appalachians in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, where 

 specimens 13 feet in diameter and 120 feet tall have been found. In 

 this region the tree's greatest development is reached in deep hollows 

 at an altitude of about 3,000 feet. It is here found in mixture with the 

 White, Scarlet, and Black Oaks, ash, hickories, Tulip-tree, and other 

 hardwoods. In the North the tree is likewise found associated with 

 many of the hardwoods, especially the oaks and maples, but is gener- 

 ally of smaller size than in the South, the average being a height of 60 

 to 80 feet and a diameter of 3 to 6 feet. In southern New England it 



