6 CHESTNUT IN TENNESSEE. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Cnestnut is commercially important throughout middle and 

 eastern Tennessee and as far west as Perry and Stewart Counties ; 

 farther west it is comparatively unimportant. It is most abundant 

 on the slopes of the Unaka and Smoky Ranges embracing the Great 

 Smoky, Unaka, Stone, and Iron Mountains, and on such outlying 

 ranges as the Holston, Frog, and Yellow Mountains. In many 

 places in all of these mountains it forjns as much as twenty-five per 

 cent of the forest over tracts several thousand acres in extent. In 

 the Unaka and Smoky Ranges it is locally most abundant on ele- 

 vated benches of the north and west slopes and on the crests ot 

 northern spurs, between altitudes of 1,800 and 3,500 feet. In such 

 situations it may occur pure or nearly pure over areas as large as 

 100 acres. Between the Unakas and the Cumberland Plateau chest- 

 nut forms less than 15 per cent of the timber. Here it is largely 

 confined to hollows and north slopes, and pure stands rarely occupy 

 more than a few acres. On the valley lands, irrespective of soil, 

 it constitutes less ttan 5 per cent of the forest. It is common on 

 the slopes of the Cumberland tableland, especially on the sandstone 

 soils which have a sufficient depth and are not too rocky; in such 

 situations it forms a large portion of the forest. Chestnut is al- 

 most entirely absent, however, on the thin-soiled and stony por- 

 tions of the tableland, especially near the southern end. In Clai- 

 borne, Campbell, Anderson, Morgan, and Cumberland Counties it 

 forms possibly 15 per cent of the timber. 



Chestnut constitutes only a small proportion of the forests of 

 the Central Basin, but is one of the chief trees of the Highland Rim. 

 In portions of Hickman County, which occupies a typical situation 

 on the western part of the Highland Rim, 10 per cent of the forest 

 aggregating several thousand acres, consists of chestnut. On the 

 sandier soils of the Highland Rim chestnut comprises up to 20 per 

 cent of the forest on the better sites. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERISTICS 

 SOIL AND MOISTURE REQUIREMENTS : 



Chestnut requires for its best growth, deep, moist loams or 

 sandy loams. The soils on which it grows must be of considerable 

 depth to permit the penetration of its ample, deeply ramifying 

 roots, and must be moderately supplied with moisture in the sub- 

 soil, but well drained on the surface. It seldom grows on clay 



