80 NUT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



bear earlier and produce larger nuts than our native species. It would seein possible 

 by hybridizing to combine the hardiness, vigor, and quality of the American species 

 with the larger size of fruit and precocious bearing of the foreign sorts. 



PROPAGATION. 



If the seed has been properly cared for, the growing of seedling chestnut trees 

 is comparatively easy. Concerning the best method of keeping seed through the 

 winter, little need be said except the general directions given for all nuts on p. 11. 

 The only special attention required after sprouting is to separate the sprouts in nuts 

 having more than a single germ, as is frequently the case with the European and 

 Japanese nuts, and occasionally with the American. 



PRESERVING CHESTNUTS FOR SEED. 



Samuel C. Moon stated before the Nurserymen's Association that his method of 

 keeping nuts for seed had given him only moderate satisfaction. By it the nuts are 

 gathered as fast as they fall, and are spread out upon the floor about two days until 

 they go through the process of sweating, aud the moisture is dried off'. They are then 

 stratified in sand, placed in a cool cellar, aud kept until spring. Sometimes as many 

 as 90 per cent of the nuts will sprout in the spring; in other instances they will nearly 

 all be moldy. The reason for not planting in the fall was to prevent the destruction 

 of the nuts by vermin, squirrels, or mice. 



W. G. Storrs says his firm bought the nuts in the fall from growers, put them in 

 boxes, three parts sand and one part chestnuts. These boxes were buried about 1 

 foot deep under the soil; they had always been successful in keeping them in grow- 

 ing condition. 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 



Neither budding nor grafting is very successful with the chestnut in the dry 

 climate of California, though .some propagators report satisfactory results with the 

 cleft graft, especially on Japanese seedlings. Shield budding is said by the State 

 board of horticulture to be best performed in August. A freshly cut bud is immedi- 

 ately inserted in an incision in the stock and is tied tightly with cotton twine. In 

 three weeks the strings may be removed. The buds are left dormant until spring. The 

 tops of the stocks are cut back in March to force the buds to start. 



From the New England States come very few reports of efforts to bud or graft 

 the chestnut. In Massachusetts the Japanese varieties have been whip grafted on 

 American stocks with fair success in Middlesex County. 



In Delaware both cleft graft and whip graft have given quite satisfactory results. 

 In Florida both budding and grafting are practiced. By grafting, whether cleft graft 

 or whip graft, nearly all grew ; by "budding some propagators have not had satisfactory 

 results. Worked into the chinkapin as stocks, either the European or Japanese 

 chestnuts come into fruit in one or two years. For budding on the chinkapin the 

 buds are cut the same as for the orange; the wood is left in the bark and the parts 

 are well tied. In Georgia both budding and grafting have given satisfactory results. 

 Seedlings of European chestnuts are among the stocks used ; the seedlings are trans- 

 planted for one year and then whip grafted without taking up the stocks. Where the 

 cleft graft is used the operation is performed early in the season ; the bottom of the 

 graft is made quite thick and the wax is applied heavily and thoroughly. The bud- 

 ding is done by the ordinary shield method, making a cross-shaped incision on the 

 stock, slipping the upper part of the bark of the bud into the upper part of the 

 incision, and using special care in the operation. 



In Illinois root grafts, with pieces of chestnut roots for stock have grown reason- 

 ably well. By side or bud grafting in the spring, when the bark lifts easily, satisfac- 

 tory results are obtained. In Indiana side grafting (sometimes called veneer grafting) 

 has been the best method tried. After the operation no branches or side shoots are 



