CHESTNUT : Castanea dentata 



IP our timber trees were classified according to their 

 economic importance and the profits which may arise from 

 their cultivation, there is no doubt but that the Chestnut 

 should be placed high in that list. It has been spared the 

 infliction of a multitude of names. Only the red man ever 

 deigned to call it anything but Chestnut. As always, he 

 gave it a significant appellation " O-heh-yah-tah," mean- 

 ing prickly burr. Under favorable conditions it is long- 

 lived and grows to a large size. There are well-authentic- 

 ated records of its having reached a diameter of eleven 

 feet, but such a growth was found only in trees standing 

 more or less in the open, and which did not attain a great 

 height. When grown in a crowded situation, it has been 

 known to reach a height of over one hundred feet, with a 

 diameter of seven feet. The average size of mature trees 

 in a virgin forest, on ground not too dry, is between twenty 

 and thirty-six inches in diameter, and eighty to one hun- 

 dred feet in height. When found above two feet in diam- 

 eter, it is quite frequently worm-eaten. When grown in 

 close stands, it will produce a tall, straight stem, free from 

 limbs for two thirds of its height, with slight taper ; but 

 when grown in the open, it forms a low, round, but some- 

 what irregular crown, and frequently has specialized limbs. 



It may be found from the southern part of Maine to 

 Georgia, and from the Atlantic Coast westwardly to the 

 Mississippi River, thence north to northern Michigan, and 

 eastwardly through that state and on through New York 

 and the New England States. Its best development is to 

 be found in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Mary- 

 land, the west portion of the Virginias, North Carolina, and 

 Tennessee. South of the Potomac River it is best at an ele- 

 vation of about two thousand feet above the sea. It accepts 



