SOME LEADING NUT TREES. 303 



yet been limited and the results have not been favorable 

 as a rule. But some nurserymen have had equal success 

 in grafting the pecan and shellbark hickories by using 

 thrifty young stocks standing in nursery row. The stocks 

 are cut two inches below the earth surface and a scion is 

 inserted by side-grafting (86), winding with waxed cotton 

 cloth for holding the parts together, and mounding to the 

 top bud of the scion. The pecan and shellbarks can also 

 be safely grafted in early June, or earlier South, by 

 slipping the scion under the bark (284) and mounding to 

 the top bud. 



291. The Chestnut. Select varieties of the American 

 sweet chestnut (Castanea Americana] are the best in 

 quality that the writer has tested in Europe, Asia, or 

 America, but the varieties of Japan are much larger and 

 some of the west European sorts are superior in size to any 

 we have yet produced, with the exception of some hybrids, 

 which so far have lost in quality what they have gained in 

 size. 



Many things are in favor of rapid advances in chestnut- 

 growing. It is far easier to propagate than the walnuts 

 or hickory-nuts, it comes into bearing earlier, and it seems 

 to find a ready market at paying prices. The chestnut 

 has been one of the leading nuts for home use and market- 

 ing for centuries in western Asia, Europe, Japan, and 

 north Africa, and indeed a staple article of food when 

 partially dried. It is also used for boiling, and its meal 

 has varied uses in the culinary department. 



The largest chestnuts, approaching in quality our best 

 native varieties, came from Sardis in Asia Minor to the 

 Oriental fairs we visited. But as yet these have not been 

 tested in the United States. 



The Japan chestnuts make a much smaller and more 

 compact tree than those of Europe, Asia, or the United 



