November, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



195 



The American chestnut, though the smallest, is 

 by far the sweetest. The tree does not bear until it 

 is about lifteen years old 



named above that the street-corner Italian 

 shakes over his glowing brazier. The tree of 

 this species is not so stately as the native 

 American and has a more spreading habit of 

 growth. It grows rapidly but is more easily 

 affected by a certain fungous disease that 

 attacks the leaf than any other species of. 

 chestnut. The European is also superior 

 to the American in the size and beauty of its 

 nut. 



THE SWEETEST NUT 



The native American chestnut is first in 

 flavor but least in size ; first in beauty of tree 

 but last in age of bearing. It produces 

 fewer nuts to the acre than either the Japanese 

 or the European. But my heart goes out 

 to it, for it is surely good to eat. Further- 



more, a well grown American chestnut that 

 has passed the quarter-century mark is a 

 gracious delight to the eye of the lover of 

 trees, and there is a peaceful, dignified 

 impressiveness about a grove of old chestnut 

 trees that is good to experience. The 

 American chestnut does not come into 

 profitable bearing before fifteen years. It 

 bears freely but not regularly. The tree is 

 too large for orchard growth. The nut is 

 a little too small and has too much white 

 fuzz on it to be handsome in appearance, but 

 its flavor is incomparable. 



WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS 



It is a shame and a disgrace to American 

 propagators that there is not one named 

 variety of the American species under culti- 

 vation to-day. We should have, by this 

 time, a series of American chestnuts, each 

 one an improvement on the last, getting 

 earlier in time of bearing, following the 

 Japanese in habit of growth, and slightly 

 increasing the size of the nut, but keeping its 

 quality. A very large nut is a positive detri- 

 ment commercially. The public does not 

 want it and will not buy it. 



What we want is a chestnut that will com- 

 bine all the good points of the Japanese in 

 early bearing, dwarf growth, regularity and 

 size of crop, and freedom from disease, with 

 the sweetness of the American nut. Until 

 we have such a nut, there will never be great 

 profits in commercial culture. 



ADVICE TO FARMERS AND AMATEURS 



All species of chestnut are easy of cultiva- 

 tion. A light sandy soil, well-drained, is 



Large size and poor quality, but early maturity, 

 characterize the Japanese Kinds. Trees bear when 

 two years old. Mdgely, an improved type 



best for them, but they will grow on heavy 

 loam. They do not like limestone soils. 

 If the farmer has a hillside to be protected 

 from washing down, or a water course with 

 high banks which need trees, he has a favor- 

 able place for chestnuts and may grow a crop 

 of nuts of appreciable value and at the same 

 time have the advantage of the tree growth. 

 Until the hybridizers get to work at the Ameri- 

 can chestnut, the money-making crops will 

 come from grafted or budded stock of the 

 best varieties of European species. To 

 secure stocks for grafting sow the seeds in 

 the fall or the seeds may be stratified in 

 sand and buried over winter and sown in 

 spring. For beauty of tree and for the 

 pleasures of the palate, however, the Ameri- 

 can chestnut must be first choice. 



Succulents Other Than Cacti— By w. Clarke, ?s 



PEOPLE WHO MUST BE IRREGULAR IN CARING FOR GARDEN OR WINDOW PLANTS SHOULD TRY THIS 

 INTERESTING CLASS WHICH IS ADAPTED TO GREAT CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE CONDITIONS 



\~X7TTHOUT a doubt the easiest plants 

 * * to grow in a window garden are 

 the succulents, for they can better withstand 

 the unequal temperature and moisture con- 

 ditions that so often prevail in a living-room 

 and especially the hot, dry air. In The 

 Garden Magazine for January, 1907, one 

 class of succulents, the cacti, were considered, 



The sedums are favorite plants for window boxes. 

 They will thrive under almost any condition but 

 prefer a sunny situation 



but these form only a small portion of the 

 great army of desert plants which is best 

 adapted to withstand great irregularities in 

 the moisture supply. Roughly speaking, 

 these other succulents are generally cheaper 

 than cacti, easier to grow, more compact, 

 freer from spines, quicker and surer to bloom, 

 and some of them are handsome in flower. 

 Where the flowers are insignificant the growth 

 is usually interesting. Obviously these suc- 

 culents are very desirable for people who can 

 care for plants only at irregular intervals. 



While the cacti are interesting because 

 of their many curious forms, with few excep- 

 tions they seldom give the owner many 

 flowers, and when they do bloom, the flowers 

 are almost always insignificant. They merely 

 exist for the purpose of making seed to per- 

 petuate the species — they have no lasting 

 qualities. Just as many curiously shaped 

 plants can be found among the other succu- 

 lents and some of them have more or less 

 showy flowers which last for a week or more. 



CENTURY PLANTS 



Probably the most talked-of succulent plant 

 is the so-called century plant (Agave Ameri- 



cana). It derives its name from the supposi- 

 tion that it blooms but once in a century. It 

 seldom does bloom in cultivation, but that 

 is because of insufficient pot room which 

 cramps the roots and supplies a meagre 



The leaves of the air plant CBryophyllam calycinum) 

 will produce new plants at each indentation of the 

 leaf if it is put in a damp place 



