CHESTNUT BLIGHT AND RESISTANT CHESTNUTS 
Figure 6.—A swollen blight canker, with suckers below it. 
DETERIORATION AND USE OF BLIGHT-KILLED CHESTNUT 
Before the blight fungus at- 
tacked, chestnut made up 25 percent 
of the forest stands on 33,000,000 
acres in the southern Appalachians. 
The timber was used for tannin ex- 
traction, lumber, poles, ties, mine 
291919°—-54 
4 
= 
props, piling, fence posts, cordwood, 
and pulpwood. Sawed chestnut 
lumber was much in demand. 
The bark of blight-killed Ameri- 
can chestnut begins to loosen about 
a year after the killing. After 8 
