CHESTNUT CULTURE IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. 93 



Forest, park, or pasture-grown trees differ widely in general form and habit. 

 The tree of the woods, because of its crowding neighbors, soon loses its lower 

 branches and is stimulated to thrust its crown upwards towards the light, where it 

 remains supported by a long slender trunk, which is the form most desired for tele- 

 graph poles, cross-ties, and the general uses of the lumberman. In fact it is a 

 natural characteristic of the chestnut when grown in mixtures to shed its lower 

 branches quickly, and develop a smooth, straight bole. When grown from stump 

 sprouts several of these tall, tapering trunks are often found with their bases touch- 

 ing or even united, and all the product of one stump. 



Started in the open and given plenty of room in which to spread itself in all 

 directions, the chestnut devolves from its tall slender habit and forms a tree noted 

 for its short stable trunk and broad spreading crown. Upon a short trunk, 4 to 8 

 feet in diameter, is often supported a crown from 40 to 60 feet high, with a spread 

 of branches equaling, or often surpassing, the tree in height. Many of these spread- 

 ing pasture trees rank among the most magnificent specimens of arboreal growth 

 which are found in the Eastern States, and to a man who has spent his childhood in 

 the freedom of the country the sight or recollection of these " spreading chestnut 

 trees" will awaken in his mind many happy memories and associations of those 

 blithesome, unappreciated boyhood days of long ago. 



The exact extent to which the native chestnut has been improved by cultivation 

 and extended beyond its natural range by artificial propagation is rather hard to 

 determine. Certain it is, however, that experiments along this line have not been 

 very comprehensive, nor the results sufficiently encouraging to warrant their con- 

 tinuance. American horticulturists and nurserymen are not slow to follow up a line 

 of work which promises even mediocre returns; hence, the mere fact that our chest- 

 nut has received little attention from them is in itself proof that its cultivation as a 

 -hade or nut-bearing tree is not exceedingly profitable. This refers only to the wild 

 native chestnut, and not to the improved or acclimated foreign varieties. 



In the South nothing has been done further than utilizing for timber the magnifi- 

 cent chestnut trees of the Appalachian Mountains. In the North and West half- 

 hearted attempts, with fair success, have been made to extend its range in the 

 suitable soil of mountains and hillsides just beyond the range of natural growth. 

 When carried too far north the new shoots fail to ripen before they are nipped by 

 the early autumn frosts. On stiff alluvial soils the trees make a fair growth, but are 

 short-lived and fail to produce fruit abundantly. It is thought that the presence of 

 lime or alkali in much of the prairie soil is responsible for the poor growth. On 

 very rich soil the growth is too vigorous and the tree is liable to be unproductive 



