ORCHARD FRUITS 65 



CHESTNUT 



Chestnuts, as a rule, do well on light soil. They 

 are rapid growers and make magnificent shade 

 trees if given plenty of room. It is advisable to 

 plant in groves or avenues to insure fertilization of 

 the blossoms. They should be planted not less 

 than 50 feet apart. Many of the varieties come 

 into bearing under ten years, and some of them 

 will even bear a few nuts at five years. They add 

 considerably to the beauty of the home grounds 

 if well placed, and also pay a tribute in the form of 

 nuts, which, in many places, can be sold very 

 readily. 



" I have been raising chestnuts for some years," 

 writes Horace Roberts of Burlington county, New 

 Jersey. " When I was a very young man the busi- 

 ness was new, so I began in a small way, not put- 

 ting money in it at all. Such a thing as grafting 

 chestnuts was rare at that time. I went into the 

 pine woods where there were seedling chestnuts, 

 cut trees out of the way, put a fence around a ten- 

 acre plot and let the cattle come in to help do the 

 trimming, in this way working at a minimum ex- 

 pense. 



" Where one can raise apples or peaches or nice 

 fruits I think it is not worth while to plant chestnut 

 trees. There is more money in the fruits. My 

 land was not paying anything, so the little care I 

 gave it at that time produced a nice chestnut grove, 

 which makes the farm more attractive and at the 

 same time brings in revenue. Chestnut trees are 

 worth a good deal to the farm as a home maker, 

 because conditions in the farmyard seem to suit 

 them ; chickens destroy the weevils and nothing 

 will make a child more attached to its home than 



