16 CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT STATION, BULLETIN NO. 178. 
sprout tree grows much more rapidly in youth but the seed tree 
will often overtake and pass it in forty-five or fifty years. 
Chestnut forms the larger part of the stand in the southern 
counties of the state but decreases in the northern portion, where 
white pine is more abundant. East of the Connecticut River 
it does not form as large a percentage of the stand as in the 
FIG, VIII. PURE STAND OF CHESTNUT. 
western part of the state. It usually occurs in pure stands or 
mixed with oak, tulip, and other hardwoods. 
CHARACTER OF WOOD AND UTILIZATION. 
Its wood is durable in contact with the soil and has been 
largely used in the form of posts, ties, and other products which 
are exposed to the weather. The stands in the northern portion 
of the state have been coaled a number of times to furnish char- 
coal for the iron mines which have been in operation there since 
colonial days. The wood is soft and easy to cut, and when dry 
burns with a steady heat leaving little ash, which fact has 
resulted in the use of this species to the almost total exclusion 
