AMERICAN FOREST TREES 633 



pores, the summerwood with small ones. The medullary rays are 

 minute, and of no value in giving figure to the wood. Nevertheless, 

 chestnut has strong figure, but it is due solely to the arrangement of 

 the spring and summerwood of the annual rings. It is commonly classed 

 as a course-grained wood. The finisher can greatly alter its appearance 

 by rubbing the pores full of coloring matter. The wood is likewise 

 susceptible to change in tone in the fumes of ammonia, and by similar 

 treatment with other chemicals. The light colors of mission furniture 

 are generally the result of treatment of that kind. 



The largest cut of chestnut lumber comes from West Virginia, 

 Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Connecticut. The largest use by any 

 single industry is probably by the manufacturers of musical instruments, 

 though the honor may be divided with furniture, interior house finish, 

 and coffins and caskets. It is much employed as core or backing on 

 which to glue veneers. The lumber of old, mature trees is best liked for 

 this purpose, because it is not apt to shrink and swell, and it holds glue. 

 It is no detriment that it is riddled with worm holes the size of pins. 

 That kind of chestnut is known in the trade as "sound wormy." Some 

 persons claim that such lumber is better as backing for veneer than sound 

 pieces, because it is lighter, is sufficiently strong, and the small holes 

 seem to help the glue to stick. Wormy chestnut is frequently not ob- 

 jected to for outside work because the small holes are not hard to fill 

 and cover up. The uses of chestnut are many. Between 6,000,000 and 

 7,000,000 crossties go into railroad construction yearly. From 16,000 

 to 20,000 tons of wood are demanded annually for tanning extract. 

 Every part of the tree is available. 



In recent years a disease due to fungus has attacked chestnut 

 forests of Pennsylvania and neighboring regions. It has destroyed the 

 timber on large areas, and the loss threatens to increase. A tree 

 usually dies in one or two years after it is attacked. The fungus works 

 beneath the bark and completely girdles the tree. The spores of the 

 fungus are believed to be carried from tree to tree on the feet of birds, 

 on the bodies of insects, and by the wind. 



GOLDENLE AF CHINQUAPIN (Castanopsis chrysophylla) occurs on the Pacific coast 

 from the Columbia river to southern California. It is of its largest dimensions in the 

 coast valleys of northern California where it occasionally attains a size equal to the 

 chestnut tree of the eastern states, but in many other parts of its range it is shrubby. 

 It is an evergreen, and its name is descriptive of the underside of the leaf. Late in 

 summer, flowers and fruit in several stages of growth may be seen at the same time. 

 The nuts are sweet and edible. In northern California the bark is sometimes mixed 

 with that of tanbark oak and sold to tanneries. The wood is considerably heavier 

 than chestnut, and is sometimes employed in the making of agricultural implements. 

 It has small and obscure medullary rays, and its pores are arranged more like those 



