OUR NUT TREES 



and disappeared since first organic development be- 

 gan, and the fittest only survive. The Chestnut 

 blight is a new and deadly thing in this country, 

 but it is an old pest in the Orient. In Korea 

 it has existed beyond the memory of the oldest in- 

 habitant yet there are to-day millions of Chestnut- 

 trees in Korea, where the nut is a staple article of 

 food. The same is true of Manchuria, but in Japan 

 the blight appears to beacomparatively recent visitant 

 and is deadly. In Korea and Manchuria the older and 

 larger trees are more resistant than saplings. Doubt- 

 less the Chestnut blight {Diaportha parasitica) 

 a fungus — rages in a cycle and when the zenith of the 

 curve is reached decreases in virulence. Let us 

 heartily hope that this zenith may be reached while 

 yet a goodly number of trees remain to us. Mean- 

 while, the hybridist should be busy endeavouring to 

 breed Chestnuts immune to the blight. Some good 

 work in this direction has been done by Dr. Van 

 Fleet, at Washington, D. C, working with the Chin- 

 quapin {Castanea pumila) and an Asiatic species, 

 but it is desirable that additional workers take up 

 the burden for the task is heavy. 



The fruit of all the Chestnuts, and there are eight 

 species, is edible. In eastern Asia grow four species, 

 in this country three, and in southern Europe, Asia 

 Minor, the Caucasus, and northern Persia one species. 



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