CHESTNUT BLIGHT AND 
are eaten by squirrels, chipmunks, 
field mice, moles, and woodehucks. 
In tests, survival of planted chest- 
nut seed was ereatly increased by 
this method: Remove one end of a 
No. 2 tin can, cut a cross in the other 
end, turn out slightly the four 
corners at the center of the cross, 
then force the can into the ground 
over the planted seed. The can 
rusts away in 2 or 3 years and does 
not interfere with seedling develop- 
ment. Even with this method, how- 
ever, direct seeding is less effective 
than planting 1- or 2-year-old 
seedlings. 
Orchard Plantings 
Orchards of Chinese chestnut can 
be grown on a wide variety of soils 
if the drainage is good. They do 
best on light, fertile sandy or grav- 
elly loam that is well drained. The 
soil should be deep and the subsoil 
friable enough for the roots to pene- 
trate to a depth of at least 4 feet. 
Heavy silt or clay soils should be 
avoided. Chestnut trees will not 
grow on low ground that is poorly 
RESISTANT CHESTNUTS 17 
drained. The soil should be moder- 
ately to sightly acid, although ina 
few instances well fertilized and 
well-cared-for trees are known to be 
making satisfactory growth on 
shghtly alkaline soil. The trees 
will withstand some drought after 
they become well established, but 
they will not bear heavy nut crops 
without ample rainfall. 
Orchard Chinese chestnuts should 
be planted on high, sloping ground 
having good air drainage, which 
tends to prevent damage from late 
spring frosts. The Chinese chest- 
nut starts growing early in the 
spring, and is subject to frost injury. 
Trees located on low ground or in 
frost pockets are usually injured 
by late spring freezes. In some 
cases such freezes kill whole limbs 
or even entire trees. 
The Chinese chestnut as an or- 
chard tree seems to be well suited 
to conditions in the southeastern 
part of the United States. It has 
not yet been grown extensively 
enough in the North to demonstrate 
its suitability for large orchard 
Ficure 12.—A 16-year-old plantation of Chinese chestnut on the George Washington 
National Forest, Amherst County, Va. 
of hardwood growth. 
The planting was done after clear cutting 
