CHESTNUT CULTURE 
European Group 
The European chestnut is a large, close- 
headed, but broadly spreading tree, with 
thick branches and large buds; oblong- 
lanceolate and generally abruptly-point- 
ed, thick, leathery leaves, bearing small, 
sometimes incurved teeth, and generally 
pubescent beneath when young, and 
smooth and green on both sides when 
mature. The burs are enormously large, 
with a thick, felt-like, hairy lining; the 
nuts are thickly pubescent at the tip, 
and sometimes over considerable of the 
sides; variable in quality from bitter to 
sweet; with a long point. The trees re- 
tain the foliage late in the fall, and it 
is susceptible to the attacks of 
(See Fig. 1.) 
leaf 
fungi. 
Chestnut Grown in 
Washington. 
—Masted Photo. 
American Group 
The American chestnut differs in a 
larger, freer, more upright form; more 
slender branches; larger, thinner, more 
pointed leaves, with larger, more spread- 
ing teeth, in a greater pubescence when 
young; smaller burs, and sweeter, small- 
er, more pubescent nuts. The foliage is 
also susceptible to leaf fungi, and is shed 
earlier in the fall. (See Fig. 1, 2.) 
Japanese Group 
The Japanese chestnut is a semi-dwarf, 
close-headed tree, with very slender, 
slow-growing wood, bearing: small buds 
close together, and apparently, though 
Alpha Japanese. 
Clarke county, 
803 
not actually, opposite, on the smaller 
growth. The leaves are smaller than the 
American or European, quite like the 
peach-leaf in appearance, long, narrow, 
generally pointed, with narrow, truncate 
or cordate base, white tomentose beneath 
and pale or bright green above, teeth, 
small and sharply awn-pointed. The 
burs are comparatively small, with a 
thin, often parchment-like, hairy lining. 
The nuts large, comparatively free from 
pubescence, earlier to ripen, and poorer 
in quality, though excellent when cook- 
ed. The foliage of the Japanese is ap- 
parently free from the attacks of the 
common leaf fungi. The tree is a beau- 
tiful specimen for ornamental purposes. 
(See Fig. 1.) 
The Blossoms 
The chestnut is monecious, that is, the 
male and female flowers are separate on 
the same tree. Young, vigorous-growing 
trees frequently produce male flowers 
only, and after their excessive vegetative 
vigor ceases and the trees become older, 
the female flowers develop. The stami- 
nate flowers are borne in long, slender 
catkins, and are much more numerous 
than the pistillate flowers. The pistillate 
flowers are clustered at the base of a long 
catkin, on the distal end of which the 
staminate flowers open later in the sea- 
son, the catkin aborting down to the lit- 
tle female blossoms. 
The pistillate flowers are probably fer- 
tilized by both sets of staminate blos- 
soms, the early ones fertilizing the early 
opening blossoms, and the later ones fur- 
nishing the pollen for those that are re- 
tarded. Thomas Meehan tells me that 
he thinks the pollen from the late stam- 
inate blossoms performs the function of 
fertilization, and that the great show of 
staminate catkins is a waste of energy, 
in the American chestnut. In both Euro- 
pean and Japanese varieties, I have 
noticed that most of the pistils are re- 
ceptive while the early staminate flowers 
are in bloom. 
Suggestive Hints on Chestnut Culture 
The Production of Varieties 
Seedlings. The large varieties of cul- 
tivated, foreign chestnuts have been 
