DEATH OF CHESTNUTS AND OAKS. oS 
increment was less than 1 millimeter in radius. In those trees 
which had been killed the annual increment in radius for the last 
6 to 10 years of their life was only one-third to one-fourth of a milli- 
meter. The average rate of increment was found to be 25 milli- 
meters in diameter for 74 years of growth. This small increment 
indicates that the chestnut in this region is growing under very 
unfavorable conditions. 
A clearer idea of how slowly these chestnuts have grown can be 
obtained by comparing the diameters of a few of these trees with 
those of chestnuts grown under more favorable conditions in other 
localities. For this purpose data are used which were published in 
1905 by the Bureau of Forestry in Bulletin 53, entitled ‘‘The 
Chestnut in Southern Maryland,’ by Raphael Zon. The Forest 
Service has permitted the writer to use some unpublished data con- 
sisting of growth-diameter measurements made in West Virginia and 
Tennessee by Walter Mulford in 1905-6 and in Hyde Park, Dutchess 
County, N. Y., by J. G. Peters in 1905. The data from Hyde Park, 
where the growth conditions for chestnuts were favorable, are espe- 
cially valuable for comparing with the growth data of chestnuts in 
New Berlin, as the two localities are in the same State. The growth 
data of chestnuts grown in Connecticut, included in Table I, were © 
obtained by compiling the figures contained in Bulletin 154 of the 
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, entitled ‘‘Chestnut 
in Connecticut and the Improvement of the Woodlot,”’ by Austin F. 
Hawes. 
TaBLE I.—Dviameter measurements and average.ages of chestnut trees. 
DIAMETER, BREAST HIGH (INCHES). 
! 
| | 
New York. 
| Connecti-| Mary- | Tennes- | West 
Age and diameter. New Hyde cut. land. see. | Virginia. 
Berlin. Park. 
Age (years): 
TD Bo SOB GES ie es eS ae ear aeat aee 1.6 28) OUR eee tas bie eines 3.75 0.7 0.5 
DSSS Sci HO GOR CER peices aia are 3.7 4.9 3. 4 6. 67 Spal 2.4 
Ca aia eee ate eS ATER oc eles Siw eld sic veichc 5.7 7.2 6. 4 9. 25 5.6 4.3 
Earner theta Nereis co aioe sini eee w OM 7.6 9.4 9.5 11.5 8.2 6.4 
LAO Se ROH ORB B ne REE ee Op CORE Cem 8.3 11.4 12.6 13.4 11.2 8.4 
CO ene ae eee See ee 9.5 12.9 15.6 15. 2 1357 10. 4 
TAU Ra SEs cic Sc tae one AE ee eer 10.7 14.0 18.7 17.3 16.0 12.5 
OR ae ee eee cae See ee 1s sk Te en a 21.7 18.1 18.4 14, 4 
By Ss SA OB CE poe soe Sade aor Sich ere ae ee aan AS ii et alae er 24.8 19.1 20.3 16.3 
HL OD ees eee IS SED Sd A aad oe See 27.8 20.0 DARE 18. 2 
ID CS8 saps SBS cd SRE e SU I ee eee WSS ee ae 28 SOAS meer eave 22.7 19.9 
AGE (YEARS). 
Diameter, breast high (inches): 
PEN OUeSES Saat AS CUES HI. Nar ees 32 25 29 17 32 38 
Bien eee ane Readers steht Stace 46 31 35 25 39 48 
SH Ob CESS SCOR CHS ORE SSS COON aE aEeae 56 38 39 29 44 53 
Ee Sodus ae oS As ae ae eee 65 43 42 33 46 59 
Te ey pees meen cee be ye Ae 80 47 45 38 49 63 
163.6 Sop ebo Go 56 Sore 6 Meta eee ee eae 90 54 48 43 53 67 
