804 
evolved from the wild types through cen- 
turies of selecting slightly better seed- 
lings in each successive generation. 
Chestnut seedlings exhibit variations 
from the smallest American nuts to the 
largest Japanese, from enormous pro- 
ductiveness to approximate _ sterility, 
from an acorn-like flavor to a sweet, de- 
sirable quality, from ripening in August 
to maturity in October. Some of the 
seedlings hold their dead leaves all win- 
ter, others have nuts enclosed in a bur 
from which it is difficult to extract them. 
Certain varieties, like the Parry, are ex- 
tremely prepotent, and their progeny ex- 
hibit striking similarities. From the de- 
sirable variations new kinds can be pro- 
duced. 
Crosses 
New kinds may be produced by cross- 
ing the varieties within the species, or 
the Japanese, European, and American 
varieties may be intercrossed. Mr. Luth- 
er Burbank informs me that he has a 
few hundred hybrid chestnuts just be- 
ginning to bear—crosses of Japanese, 
European, Chinese, chinquapin, and oth- 
ers, among which are a number of ex- 
tremely valuable varieties. Mr. Burbank 
thinks that all the chestnuts intercross 
as readily as the various varieties of ap- 
ples. 
Bud Varieties 
New varieties may possibly be develop- 
ed from bud variations, as tree under ap- 
parently similar conditions, show the 
widest differences in bearing tendencies. 
The variations might be perpetuated in 
newly grafted trees, though it is quite 
possible that the violent differences with- 
in the cultivated varieties are due to the 
reciprocal action of stock and scion, when 
the union is imperfect. At any rate, in 
the perpetuation of a variety, too much 
care cannot be used in selecting scions 
for propagation only from trees with de- 
Sirable bearing tendencies. 
Propagation 
Grafting. Chestnuts are propagated 
usually by grafting, though budding, with 
buds that have been held dormant, is 
frequently practiced in the spring in the 
South. The scions are inserted upon the 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
stocks by ditferent propagators in four 
positions, 2. ¢., in the root, in the crown, 
in the body or stem, and in the top or 
branches of the tree. Two methods of 
grafting are generally employed, the 
cleft graft for stocks of large size, and 
the whip-gratt for smaller stocks. A 
third system, the bark graft, is occasion- 
ally used for very large stocks. The 
grafting technique must be performed 
most skillfully to insure a successful out- 
come. The scions should be cut with 
precission, and the young, fine wood, espe- 
cially in the Japanese varieties, should 
be discarded. Immediately after insert- 
ing the scions, the stubs must be careful- 
ly covered with wax, or with waxed cloth, 
the latter method being preferable for 
young trees, as the stubs often do not 
close tightly. If the stub can be cut 
two or three inches above a fork, the 
openings close more firmly. 
Britton, of the Connecticut station, in 
1898, found from grafting over two hun- 
dred scions of the Japanese and Euro- 
pean varieties on American stocks, that 
more scions live when inserted after the 
leaves had begun to expand. 
He says that the early grafts that sur- 
vived made a much larger growth than 
the later ones. He states also that the 
scions take more readily in young shoots. 
Stocks for Grafting in the Nursery 
The cultivated varieties of the Euro- 
pean chestnut are generally propagated, 
either upon their own American-grown 
seedlings, or upon native, American seed- 
lings Japanese varieties are often prop- 
agated upon seedlings grown from im- 
ported Japanese seed. Occasionally, seed- 
ling trees of the European chestnut are 
imported, but they are worthless for prop- 
agating purposes as the bodies become af 
flicted with sun scald. 
Each species seems to work best upon 
stocks of the same type, but there is a 
close affinity between the Japanese and 
the American stocks, and between some 
varieties of the Europeans and the Ameri- 
can seedlings. 
The European varieties are propagated 
largely upon American stocks, and suc- 
cessfully with many varieties, but nur- 
