114 Lessons in Fruit Growing. 



dry {Carij alba or Hicoria ovata) has produced many wild 

 varieties much superior to the average in size and quality. 

 Some of these have been planted for their nuts. Now that 

 successful methods of grafting the hickory are becoming 

 known, the cultivation of this species may become more 

 popular in the north. 



B — THE CHESTN"UT 



158. The American chestnut {Casta^iea Americana) is a 

 favorite among our native nuts, owing to its tender shell 

 and sweet meat. The nuts are extensively marketed from 

 wild trees throughout its habitat, and increased attention 

 is being given to its culture. The European chestnut 

 (C. sativa) and the Japanese chestnut (C. crenata) have been 

 introduced and are cultivated to some extent. 



Two species of chinkapin {Castanea pumila and C. alni- 

 folia) are more or less dwarfed trees, and bear small, early- 

 maturing nuts, that are quite largely marketed from wild 

 trees in parts of southern United States. 



The American chestnut is a large tree; the European 

 chestnut is a smaller, lower-branched tree, and the Japan- 

 ese species is still smaller, and of a compact, symmetrical 

 habit. The nuts of the foreign species are larger than those 

 of the American, but they are more astringent and less sweet. 



159. Cultural range. The American chestnut is native 

 from southern Maine to Delaware and along the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains to northern Alabama, extending to the 

 Atlantic coast in North Carolina; also westward through 

 southern Canada to southern Michigan, southern Indiana 

 and Illinois, through Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi 

 to Louisiana. Its area has been extended slightly by plant- 

 ings, but the southern range appears to be receding to the 



