CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE. 17 
of the hard woods in the brass industry. The brickyards and 
the lime kilns also use it when it can be obtained. These 
numerous uses for the smaller products, such as cordwood, have 
resulted in large areas of sprout forests under 30 years of 
age, in which the percentage of chéstnut has been on the increase, 
due to the great vigor with which the stumps sprout. In those 
sections of the state where the market for cordwood is not as 
good, the stands are usually left until pole or tie size. Here the 
percentage of seedling trees is slightly greater, due to the 
increased seed production of the more mature trees. These 
stands, as a whole, are mixed with a greater variety of species 
and are in a better condition to withstand the spread of the 
chestnut blight, as there are in many cases enough trees of other 
species to continue the stand even if the chestnut is entirely 
removed. There are very few stands in ‘the state in which the 
trees are of a size to make lumber. This is largely due to 
the ready market for ties and poles, but it is also due to the 
fact that in a sprout stand the trees begin to deteriorate after 
it reaches the age of fifty to sixty years. 
Native chestnut is the wood most used in this section for ties 
and poles. Chestnut and red cedar are most commonly used 
for posts. Chestnut is used for timbers in the construction of 
a large number of buildings, especially on the farm where the 
owner has his own wood lot. When the tree is large enough 
to saw, the planks are commonly used in the wooden bridges to 
be found throughout the state. The boards are used as rough 
siding and to a limited extent in the manufactute of boxes, but 
this use is limited by the weight of the lumber. As an interior 
finish, this wood is coming: into favor, but up to the present time 
the southern lumber is preferred because of better milling and 
closer grading. Chestnut is used in furniture as the core for 
veneering. 
MILL PRACTICE. 
The chestnut of this state is milled by small portable outfits 
which have a daily capacity of five to fifteen thousand feet per 
day. The timber holdings are small and a mill has to make 
frequent moves which tends to make the owner careless in 
setting tp, with the result that there is a tendency to produce 
lumber of varying thickness. The mills have circular, inserted 
