CHAPTER XVIII. 
THE CHESTNUT. 
A Favorable Notice. —Its Remunerative Returns.—Manner of Setting 
Out and Caring For.—Benefits of Cutting Back—Ground Suited to 
its Growth.—A Difficulty of its Raising.—Manner of Sowing its 
Seed.—Winter Preservation of Plants—Time to Transplant.—A 
Release from a Difficulty.—Chestnut-planting in Nevada and Pro- 
ductiveness—Growth of the Chestnut in North Carolina, and its 
Great Growth in Europe.—An Old Tree and its Productive Bear- 
ing.—Uses of Chestnut Wood.—Its Durability.—The Chincapin.— 
Where Found.— Quality of its Fruit. Durability of Wood.— Its 
Growth Influenced by Climate. 
A sBeavtirut tree and a favorite with nearly every one. 
A lot planted in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, eleven years ago, are 
now making a better return than the same number of 
acres in orchard. At Des Moines chestnut-trees four 
years old from the seed have borne fruit. They should 
be set out four thousand to the acre, and gradually 
thinned, as they increase in size, to three hundred to the 
acre. They will then be twelve feet apart. A grove of 
chestnuts may be cut down at twelve or fifteen years of 
age, and in twelve years will be ready for another cut- 
ting. The growth of the sprouts will be more rapid than 
the original growth of the tree. The stumps should be 
cut low and covered with a thin layer of earth. Side- 
hills and rocky land are the best for chestnut cultivation. 
The great difficulty in growing this tree is to get it start- 
ed properly. Care must be taken to keep the seed from 
rotting or moulding. The seed should be kept through 
the winter in sand, dampened and placed in a cool cellar. 
In the spring plant the chestnuts in rows three feet apart, 
