CHESTNUT 287 



a variety of soils, but not wet ones, ranging from 

 loose sand and decomposed shale to dry, rocky ridges and 

 mountain slopes, but does not take kindly to limestone 

 land. Neither does it demand a high state of fertility. It 

 is a rapid grower until it reaches sixty or seventy years of 

 age, when its lessening powers of growth become manifest 

 in the gradually diminishing thickness of the annual rings ; 

 yet, if not injured, it still retains enough vital force to 

 maintain a moderate growth for centuries. Careful count- 

 ing, in widely separated sections of the country, of the an- 

 nual rings in hundreds of telegraph and telephone poles, 

 whose length was forty feet, with a top diameter of not less 

 than six inches, showed that their ages ran from forty-three 

 to sixty-seven years, averaging a trifle over fifty-six. 



The wood is light, soft, coarse-grained, quite strong in 

 young trees, but weak in old ones. Young growth is liable 

 to warp and check when seasoning, but this can be avoided 

 by proper piling. It splits easily, and in former times was 

 much used for fence rails. It is durable when exposed to 

 the weather or soil. The heartwood is a light reddish brown, 

 with light-colored sap wood which seldom exceeds eight an- 

 nual layers. There is a notable difference between spring 

 and summer wood, and consequently the annual layers are 

 very distinct and prominent. The medullary rays are 

 scarcely discernible to the naked eye. Until within the last 

 fifty years it was little used except for fence posts and fence 

 rails. Now it is largely consumed for all sorts of posts 

 entering the ground, and for railroad ties, interior finish, 

 furniture, shingles, and general construction. Old and 

 worm-eaten Chestnut is largely used for burial caskets, 

 foundations for veneers for doors and panels, piano cases, 

 and other like work ; such wood being especially valuable for 

 that purpose, as it neither shrinks nor warps when packed 

 up, and takes glue well. Beyond all this, it is now largely 

 used to furnish tannic acid for the tanneries, the whole 

 tree being employed for that purpose, and large areas are 

 being denuded in consequence. 



