1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



367 



trees of the same or other species 

 among the chestnut coppice and allow- 

 ing them to live through two or three 

 rotations of the sprouts, large timber 

 trees may be secured. The chestnut 

 is admirably adapted to several sys- 

 tems of forest management. 



For commercial or ornamental 

 planting either nursery culture or di- 

 rect field planting may be practiced. 

 In either case the nuts should be gath- 

 ered when mature in the fall and 

 stratified in moist sand through the 

 winter, care being taken that they do 

 not dry out after ripening, or become 

 moldy in the sand. If placed in single 

 layers between alternate layers of 

 moist sand in a strong box, out of 

 doors in a sheltered place, they may 

 be depended upon to winter safely. 



If started in the nursery the rows 

 should be 3 feet apart, and the nuts 

 placed 1 foot apart in the row and 

 covered 1 to 2 inches, and may be 

 set in the plantation in the spring 

 when either 1 or 2 years old. If trans- 

 planted several times in the nursery 

 the plants are improved, but this is 

 usually too expensive to be practiced 

 in economic planting. 



For extensive operations direct plac- 

 ing of the nuts in their permanent lo- 

 cation is cheapest and best. Fall plant- 

 ing is advised if the planted nuts can 

 be protected from mice and squirrels. 

 Holes should be dug and 2 or 3 nuts 

 placed in each and covered about 2 

 inches deep, and the dirt packed down 

 quite firmly. The holes should be 

 dug 5 to 6 feet apart. The chestnut 

 will thrive in pure stands, but can be 

 grown to better advantage in mix- 

 tures. It is especially adapted for 

 planting with the white and red pine 

 on waste land in New England, and 

 can also be combined with the oaks, 

 ash, and maples. 



ENEMIES. 



The chestnut as a forest tree is as 

 a rule little troubled by insets or 

 fungi. Several forms of borers work 

 in the wood and under the bark, and 

 their ravages are sometimes exten- 

 sive. The nuts are attacked by the 



larvae of two or more species of weevil, 

 but to the timber grower this is not 

 serious. In case insects of any kind 

 appear in alarming numbers, speci- 

 mens, accompanied by a detailed ac- 

 count of their appearance and habits 

 as far as determined, should be sent 

 to the Division of Entomology of the 

 Department of Agriculture for identi- 

 fication and suggestions as to their 

 control. The trunks of the young 

 trees in warm situations are often af- 

 fected by a body blight, or sun scald, 

 as it is called. The bark cracks and 

 loosens on the south and west sides 

 of the tree, and the affected portion 

 finally dies. The extent of injury 

 from this source is, however, not 

 great, new disease of unknown cause 

 has been doing considerable injury 

 during the past ten or fifteen years. 



POSSIBILITIES AND USES. 



For protective and commercial 

 forest planting few eastern trees are 

 deserving of greater commendation 

 than the chestnut. Among our long- 

 lived hardwood trees it is diffi- 

 cult to find its equal in rapidity of 

 growth and ease of propagation on 

 soils which are _ good or medium in 

 quality. It is amenable to various 

 systems of forest management, forms 

 a vigorous coppice, yields a wood 

 which is valuable for a variety of uses, 

 and produces a very valuable nut. 



The tree grows so extensively in 

 the East that almost no planting has 

 been done except for ornament and 

 for the production of the nuts. In the 

 West little chestnut planting has been 

 done because it is popularly believed 

 that the tree does not generally thrive 

 west of the Mississippi, but in Kansas, 

 Nebraska, and Missouri the few trees 

 that have been started are doinw well. 



PLANTATIONS. 



Mr. L. A. Goodman, of Kansas 

 City, Mo., has two rows of chestnut 

 trees on his estate in Westport. They 



