194 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1907 



gated, and fit it to the stock, being careful 

 that the cut edges of the stock and cion 

 coincide. Tie them tightly together with 

 narrow waxed muslin strips, and the opera- 

 tion is complete. If the cions are cut a little 

 time before they are to be used, put them in 

 a cool, sheltered place. 



Place the newly grafted plants on the 

 greenhouse bench in a frame covered with 

 sash, plunging them in sphagnum moss so 

 deeply that only the tops show. Keep the 

 frame closed and shaded from the direct rays 

 of the sun, syringing the plants occasionally 

 until the cions and stocks have united or 

 "knitted," which will be in three or four 

 weeks. Then gradually unfasten the ties. 



In three or four weeks after the first evi- 

 dence of uniting, a portion of the top of the 

 stock may be removed; it must not wholly 

 be cut back to the graft until there are evi- 

 dences of a perfect union. Positive harm 



One year after grafting. When the 

 cut the stock off just above 



union is complete 

 the union 



is often done by cutting back the stock too 

 soon. No rules can be laid down about the 

 exact time for cutting back the stock. Do 

 it when the union seems to be complete; 

 generally some time in the following spring. 

 When the cions have "taken," or united, 

 remove the moss a little at a time from around 

 the plants. The plants may then be re- 

 moved from the frames and placed on the 

 greenhouse bench, being careful to keep 

 them well watered and syringed. Some 

 growers keep them on a cool greenhouse 

 bench all summer, but I find the best place 

 is to plant them out in an open frame or bed, 

 the summer after they are grafted, and the 

 second season transfer them to the nursery 

 rows. I have known some nurserymen to 

 plant them in the nursery rows the same 

 season, but in my judgment they are usually 

 too fragile for the tender mercies of the 

 regular nursery row, until the second season. 



The Plain Truth About Chestnut Culture-By J. w. Kerr, t„i 



THE BIG NUTS DON'T TASTE GOOD AND THEREFORE, EVEN IF YOU COULD MAKE A FORTUNE 

 OUT OF THEM, YOU OUGHT'NT TO— HOW TO GROW THE SMALL NUTS THAT ARE SWEET 



[Editor's Note — It is hard to get at the inside truth when "boom literature" fills the land, but here it is, without the muck-raking spirit. From one end of the country to 

 the other, the author of this article is known and respected. He is a veteran pomologist, and has added greatly to our knowledge of plums, of which he has a large and unique collection. 

 He has watched the chestnut industry from the beginning and has done much hybridizing in his own orchards.} 



SOME twenty-five years ago, when the 

 Japanese chestnut was introduced by 

 Californian importers, and from thence 

 taken across the continent to New Jersey, it 

 produced nothing short of a horticultural 

 sensation. The immense size of the nut; 

 the dwarf habit of the tree, which saves so 

 much orchard space; and its wonderful 

 precocity (since it often bears at two years 

 from seed) were hailed with glee by the 

 commercial grower. At first only seedlings 

 could be obtained, and few of these. They 

 brought high prices. There was little risk in 

 using seedling stock since 95 per cent, of the 

 trees grown from Japanese seed will bear 

 good nuts but varieties must be grafted. 



THE BIGGEST NUT 



For fifteen years the Japanese chestnut's 

 career took the ascending curve, but for the 



past ten it has been gradually going down, 

 until to-day, while there is a steady demand 

 for the trees, this species is no longer the 

 favorite. The reason is not far to seek. The 

 quality of the nut is poor and the public that 

 once. clamored for big nuts has gone back to 

 the smaller European and American varieties 

 simply because they are so much sweeter. 



However, the amateur who wants a few 

 chestnut trees merely as an interesting 

 adjunct to his garden may well plant some of 

 the Japanese. They are interesting trees, 

 clean growers, dwarf enough in habit never 

 to take up an embarrassing amount of space, 

 free from disease, with good colored foliage, 

 and they bear when they are so absurdly 

 small that they are a constant delight to the 

 good folk who must have a garden that is ever 

 "up and doing." Moreover, they bear freeh- 

 and regularly and the nuts are sound and 



A happy medium or reasonable size and fair flavor is found in the American seedlings of the European 

 chestnut. Numbo on the left, Paragon on the right. Nuts one and one-quarter inches diameter. They bear 

 when five years old. They must be propagated by budding or grafting 



meaty, not bad when boiled, but uninteresting 

 and flat when roasted or eaten raw. There 

 may yet be a field for the Japanese in the 

 making of marrons glaces or similar con- 

 fections, but as yet it is untried. The real 

 hope of the whole species lies in the improve- 

 ment of its quality by hybridizing. 



THE MOST PROFITABLE SPECIES 



As we go down the scale in size we gain in 

 flavor, and this naturally brings us to . the 

 improved European varieties. The Euro- 

 pean chestnut, commonly known as the 

 Spanish or French, has not been known 

 generally in this country for more than 

 seventy-five years. Before that time it is 

 doubtful if there were more than a few 

 isolated trees. In this species we find better 

 flavor than in the Japanese chestnut; a 

 smaller nut; a larger tree, and reasonable 

 earliness in maturing. An improved Euro- 

 pean variety will not bear profitably until 

 four or five years from the graft or from seed. 

 Moreover, it is not safe to propagate even 

 from the best seed, for seedlings vary widely, 

 in this respect being far inferior to the 

 Japanese. However, it was, of course, by 

 seed that the Numbo and Paragon varieties 

 came into existence. It is a common error 

 to call Numbo, Paragon and Ridgely, 

 American chestnuts because they originated 

 in this country, but they are distinctly of the 

 European species. Numbo and Paragon 

 were accidental seedlings planted respectively 

 by Moon and Engle — both Pennsylvania 

 growers. It is presumed that the seed had 

 been pollinated by the American sweet 

 chestnut. 



The popularity of the European species is 

 the greatest. It is usually one of the varieties 



