Blight-Resistant Chestnuts and Related Tree Crops 4 
by this method are more easily transplanted, as the roots are inclined 
to be fibrous, making it less difficult to handle the trees. Despite all 
precautions, the seedlings do not take very kindly to these prac- 
tices. They must be handled with care and are not so easily trans- 
planted as are fruit trees, such as pears, apples, and cherries. 
During the past 10 years something over 10,000 nursery-grown 
seedlings of Castanea mollissima have been distributed to all parts 
of the United States. No serious efforts have been made to set out 
these trees in orchard blocks. A good many have gone to public 
parks, others have been placed in the hands of foresters, and con- 
siderable numbers have found their way into test nurseries and 
the gardens of private experimenters. Efforts to determine what 
has happened to these trees show that fully nine-tenths of them have 
been lost. Drought, frost, fire, and lack ‘of adaptability to climate 
are set down by those who received the trees as the principal causes 
of their death. A good many cooperators of the department report 
that blight caused the death of many trees, although numbers report 
that these trees have resisted blight, whereas the American chestnut 
in the same neighborhood succumbed. 
In 1912 the late Walter Van Fleet, of the Bureau of Plant Indus- 
try, established a test orchard of chestnuts at Bell, Md., 15 miles 
northeast of Washington, -D. C. This orchard was planted with 
Castanea mollissima seedlings, also a number of hybrids produced 
by Doctor Van Fleet, and a collection of selected types, the selec- 
tions being largely from the Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata). 
About 900 of the Castanea mollissima trees were planted, the seed- 
lings being grown from seeds sent from Tientsin, China, in 1911. _. 
The country around Bell was at one time the home of forests of 
our native chestnuts. A good many old trees were still standing 
in the neighborhood at the time of planting the orchard. Nearly 
all of these old trees have been killed by blight. The Chinese hairy 
chestnuts (Castanea mollissima) and a good many of Doctor Van 
Fleet’s hybrids and selections are still living and growing well 
(fig. 3). Marked differences have developed in the seedlings of 
Castanea mollissima: Some produce larger nuts than others; some 
are more vigorous than others. One or two trees are steady bearers, 
while some are shy bearers. 
There is little fforuarion at present that would encourage the 
belief that the Chinese hairy chestnut may be utilized as a substitute 
for our native species in the production of timber or for tanning 
purposes. To provide future timber and tannin supplies for this 
country is a complex economic problem that. must be viewed from 
many angles and can not be discussed here. As a possible source 
of a valuable food crop and perhaps poles, posts, and similar tim- 
ber, Castanea mollissima seems well worthy of study and extension. 
The tree lends itself readily to: orchard or intensive culture and 
begins to bear when 6 or 7 years old. The trees for orchard cul- 
ture may be planted as close as 14 by 14 feet, but 18 by 18 i is 
better. . Such trees should be pruned sparingly. Experience . G 
shown that the head should be formed early, followed by ae 
runing later. The trees do best when left to grow naturally. : ee 
fe rire 3, showing natural growth on the left and pruned growth on 
