Blight-Resistant Chestnuts and Related Tree Crops 3 
in September, 1923, to make another collection of nuts thought to 
be those of a chestnut. This was one of the most. successful ship- 
ments of this explorer, and resulted in obtaining nearly 6,000 little 
trees from the seeds sent in. 
On several occasions the Office of Foreign Plant Introduction 
has secured the services of J. H. Reisner, of Nanking University, 
Nanking, China, for the purpose of collecting various seeds and 
plants. Professor Reisner, through his association with the Col- 
lege of Agriculture and Forestry, has been in a position to make 
a careful study of the chestnuts in that part of China. A number 
of large shipments of nuts have been received from him; and these, 
having been packed properly, reached the department in excellent 
condition. Practically all these seeds were those of the Chinese hairy 
chestnut (Castanea mollissima). 
In July, 1924, P. H. Dorsett, long connected with the work of the 
Office of Foreign Plant Introduction, left for northeastern China, 
accompanied by his son, James H. Dorsett. The explorations made 
by Dorsett and Dorsett have resulted in procuring additional 
chestnut material, including nuts from wild and cultivated trees 
from the regions north and northeast of Peking. 
In view of the great interest in substitutes for our native chestnut 
that may prove able to withstand the blight and be utilized in breed- 
ing work, looking to the supplying of timber, tannin, and food, it 
has seemed desirable to bring together certain data bearing on the 
species already introduced or that may be introduced. This seems 
particularly necessary, inasmuch as there is considerable confusion 
and some misunderstanding as to the real merits of the introductions 
heretofore made. 
BOTANICAL CONSIDERATIONS 
The substitute trees referred to belong to a group of five genera 
scattered rather widely over the world: (1) Beech trees, belonging 
to the genus Fagus; (2) chestnuts (Castanea) ; (3) oaks (Quercus) ; 
4) Lithocarpus, and (5) Castanopsis. In this circular only the 
astaneas, or chestnuts, and the species of Castanopsis will be con- 
sidered. The latter we may call evergreen chinquapins, because their 
leaves are not shed in the fall. ; 
The genus Castanea, containing the chestnuts, 1s confined to the 
Northern Hemisphere and embraces nine known species, of which 
four occur in the United States, one in southern Europe, one in 
Japan, and three in China. A few of the species are shrubby. 
Others, like our own American chestnut, the Chinese hairy chestnut, 
and the Chinese timber chinquapin, grow into tall trees. The leaves 
of the chestnuts are deciduous; that is, they fall at the approach of 
cold weather. The bark is usually deeply furrowed, and the wood is 
porous. The nuts are borne in spiny burs, which on maturing split 
into two to four valves (fig. 1). : 
The genus Castanopsis 1s closely related to Castanea and includes 
25 or more species, one of which, namely, Castano psis chrysophylla, 
“erroneously calléd the golden-leaf chestnut,” occurs along the west- 
ern slopes of the Cascade Mountains 1n Oregon and in the coast 
ranges of California. Nearly all the species of Castanopsis, are 
