14 FARMERS’ 
chestnut and chinkapin hybrids 
suitable for wildlife plantings on 
some of the poorer soils and in vari- 
ous climates not well suited to the 
Chinese chestnut. _ 
Chestnut breeding in Connecticut 
was begun in 1930 under the spon- 
sorship of the Brooklyn Botanic 
Garden, with the cooperation of the 
United States Department of Agri- 
culture. Since 1947 the Connecti- 
cut Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion has sponsored this work. At 
first, crosses of the American and 
Japanese species were made; in 
1934 the American and the Chinese 
species were crossed; and in 1937 a 
Japanese X American hybrid was 
BULLETIN 2068 
crossed with the Chinese chestnut. 
Among the progenies produced thus 
far, the Chinese X (Japanese X 
American) hybrids have the best 
forest-tree form and are the most 
blight resistant, with some Chinese 
x American hybrids a close second. 
They are being crossed with Ameri- 
can chestnuts to obtain a better 
forest tree. 
At the Connecticut Agricultural 
Experiment Station a method of 
grafting known as inarching has 
been practiced, to save for further 
breeding work those blighted hy- 
brids having valuable characteris- 
tics such as erect habit and rapid 
growth. 
BLIGHT-RESISTANT CHESTNUTS ON THE FARM 
The Chinese chestnut has proved 
to be superior to the other Asiatic 
chestnuts for use on farms in the 
United States, because of its blight 
resistance and hardiness and the 
quality of the nuts. The Japanese 
chestnut should not be planted for 
nut production ; its nuts are usually 
coarse in texture and poor in flavor. 
Chinese chestnut seedlings are 
now offered for sale by a large num- 
ber of nurseries. A partial list of 
these nurseries may be obtained 
from the Agricultural Research 
Service, United States Department 
of Agriculture, Washington 25, 
D.C. <A few nurseries sell grafted 
varieties of Chinese chestnut. The 
grafted trees are more expensive 
than the seedlings. Some State 
forest and game agencies are grow- 
ing and distributing Chinese chest- 
nut seedlings. The Department of 
Agriculture does not now distrib- 
ute chestnut seedlings to the gen- 
eral public. 
Chestnut trees for planting in 
States west of the Great Plains 
should not be ordered from eastern 
nurseries. Quarantine laws of some 
of these States prohibit the filling 
of such orders, to prevent chestnut 
blight infection from being carried 
into new territory. 
A chestnut tree is largely incapa- 
ble of pollinating its own blossoms. 
To provide for cross-pollination and 
good crops of nuts, it is necessary to 
plant two or more seedling trees, or 
trees of two or more grafted varie- 
ties. For cross-pollination, trees 
should be planted not more than 60 
feet apart. 
Forest and Woodland Plantings 
Efforts have been made to estab- 
lish forest plantings of Chinese 
chestnut. on abandon rundown ag- 
ricultural land and on grassy sites, 
but nearly all these have failed. 
The most successful plantings were 
made on sites having deep, fertile 
soil and good drainage. Cool sites 
with north or east exposures are 
best. The Chinese chestnut can en- 
dure shade for 1 or 2 years after 
planting, but it is not so tolerant of 
shade as shellbark and pignut hick- 
ory, white ash, sugar maple, or 
beech. To produce clear, straight 
stems, Chinese chestnuts must be 
