THE CHESTNUT 63 



In the main, very little attention has been 

 paid to the chestnut by cultivators of nuts. 

 Until very recently, such chestnuts as have 

 appeared in the market have been gathered 

 from wild trees or imported from Europe, 

 Recently, however, the possibilities of cultivating 

 the chestnut have gained attention and in a cer- 

 tain number of cases orchards have been started. 

 I have introduced three different varieties of 

 hybrid chestnuts, the Hale, the Coe, and the 

 McFarland, and these have been grafted on 

 ordinary chestnut stocks to form the basis 

 of many chestnut orchards of the Southern 

 States. 



In some cases the roots of the chinquapin 

 have been used as the foundation for grafting, 

 in regions where the ordinary chestnut does 

 not occur. Chestnut orchards have also been 

 started by planting the seed. Reasonable success 

 attends this method, but of course it lacks the 

 certainty of grafting. No one should attempt 

 to start an orchard except by grafting. 



Unfortunately there has developed within 

 very recent years a disease that attacks the chest- 

 nut tree and invariably destroj^s it. The disease 

 at first appeared in the neighborhood of New 

 York City about the year 1904, and it has 

 spread in all directions, each year reaching out 



