IMPROVED CHESTNUT CULTURE. 
ANEW INDUST R Y—W A 8 T E PLACES MADE GLAD. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
Part III. 
As was stated last week, the hillside grove of 
grafted chestnuts is but a side issue with Mr. Engle. 
For some years, he has done quite a nursery business 
selling young grafted Paragon trees, and also quanti¬ 
ties of the wood for grafting. The only trouble 
about this part of the business is that it is almost im¬ 
possible to graft the trees fast enough to supply the 
demand. The demand for improved chestnut trees is 
immense. All over the 
country, people begin to 
realize that if they are 
to give any space at all 
to nut trees, they might 
just as well plant tho.se 
that will give the best 
returns. Mr. Engle says 
that there are few, if 
any, orchards yet set 
out. Most of his sales 
have been to those who 
desire a few trees about 
the farm or house for 
shade and nuts, or to 
provide wood for graft¬ 
ing. Probably the nut 
orchards of the future 
will be grafted either 
on sprouts or small trees 
as Mr. Engle has done 
or on seedlings of na¬ 
tives planted on waste 
or rough Helds. 
“ Why do you make a 
specialty of the Para¬ 
gon ? ” I asked. 
“Becau.se it is the 
most desirable nut in all 
respects that 1 have 
tried, and 1 have tested 
them all. The Numbo 
is an excellent nut, but 
would not answer on 
our rough hillside, be¬ 
cause, as I said before, 
the nuts shell out of the 
burrs too easily. The 
Paragon holds its nuts 
so that they can be 
picked burr and all. 
“What stock do you 
prefer for grafting in 
the nursery ? ” 
“ I would rather have 
Paragon than any other, 
as that variety makes 
such a thrifty growth, 
and the graft makes a 
better union on that stock. But we are not able to get 
enough of the Paragon stock. We grade the chestnuts 
into three sizes. The first two sizes are sold, and the 
smaller ones planted. We grade everythiivj that goes 
from this farm, and never sell a thing that has not 
been examined and carefully handled. We have been 
obliged to depend largely on natives for our nursery 
stock. The nuts are saved and planted much the 
same as fruit seeds. When the trees are large enough, 
they are grafted to Paragons.” 
“ At what age do you graft the stock ? ” 
“ At about three years. Really it depends more on 
the size and vigor of the tree than on the exact age. 
You will notice that many of these little trees in the 
Rprsery, qre already bearing nuts, Another singular 
thing about the Paragon is that in the nursery-row 
we often find burrs containing five or seven nuts, 
while after it comes in regular bearing in the orchard, 
three is the number invariably.” 
“ What about seedlings of the Paragon ? ” 
“We have several growing, but they are not yet in 
bearing, so we cannot speak as to their quality. We 
would like a nut containing all the good qualities of 
the Paragon, and a little earlier than that variety is 
at present. We would like to get that from a seed¬ 
ling. The earlier market is the best.” 
“ What is your advice about starting ? What should 
farmers buy in order to start such a grove ? ” 
“It will depend on circumstances. Some would 
better buy grafted trees, while others might do better 
to buy scions for grafting. As a rule, farmers buy 
grafted trees and set them out here and there about 
the farm. These trees will, in a year or so, give them 
all the wood they .require for grafting, and that is the 
cheapest and surest way to get started on a large 
scale.” 
“ Have you ever tried manuring or fertilizing the 
trees ? ” 
“ Of course we use more or less manure and ferti¬ 
lizer in the nursery. Plant food is just as necessary 
to grow chestnut wood as any other. We have never 
tried fertilizing the large bearing trees, but we intend 
to experiment by using potash and some form of phos¬ 
phoric acid around certain.'trees-to'see if we get a bet¬ 
ter growth or a larger crop. It is a principle in the 
gi'owing of chestnut trees that ‘ the more they bear, 
the slower they grow,’ and it may be that by using 
fertilizers we can obtain both growth and yield.” 
“ You believe in the use of fertilizers then, do you ? ” 
“Yes, indeed. We coiild not keep up our fai'm 
without them. Twenty years ago, 1 farmed 120 acres 
with eight horses and 30 cows, using all the manure at 
home and even buying some in the town. To-day we 
work only 2.') acres with four horses and four cows, 
and yet sell more from the 2.") acres than we did from 
the 120. We buy little, if any, stable manure. It is 
too uncertain—one can¬ 
not buy it by analysis, 
and we do not know 
what we are getting 
when we buy it. Ferti¬ 
lizers we can buy on a 
guaranteed analysis, and 
thus know just what our 
nitrogen, potash and 
phosphoric acid cost us* 
If a farmer will only 
stop and think what 
these elements co.st him 
in stable manure, he will 
soon see that fertilizers 
and a good green crop 
will give him cheaper 
fertility.” 
“ You use green ma¬ 
nures, too ? ” 
□ “Oh, yes—that is 
necessary where we use 
large quantities of ferti¬ 
lizers. We must supply 
humus in some way. 
Rye a n d buckwheat 
were formerly used for 
this juirpose, but we are 
now experimenting with 
Crimson clover, and feel 
sure that it will be a 
great success, because it 
grows so rapidly and, un¬ 
like rye or buckwheat, 
supiilies nitrogen.” 
“ Do you think the 
increased use of Crimson 
clover as a green ma¬ 
nure, will cau.se a de¬ 
mand for less nitrogen 
in the mixed fertilizers?” 
‘ ‘ That is a question 
that I am not prepared 
to answer. We have not 
attempted home mixing, 
but are well satisfied to 
u.se the Mapes fertilizers. 
We raise vegetables, 
garden truck, flowers, 
etc., and such quick growing crops need large quanti¬ 
ties of nitrogen. With ordinary farm culture, doubt¬ 
less one could do well with Crimson clover and potash, 
with phosphoric acid in the form of acid rock or bone. 
With our crops, however, we doubt if that would give 
the be.st results.” 
“ How heavily do you use fertilizers?” 
“ From 1,500 pounds to a ton per acre on most crop.s 
On such crops as celery and cabbage, we find it next 
to impo.ssible to use too much. I find that these crop.s 
will stand heavier feeding better than any others.” 
“ Farming has changed somewhat in this section, I 
presume ? ” 
“ Yes. The farmers are learning to concentrate 
their work on few acros; been a large in- 
GET UP, MR. MONOPOLIST, AND GIVE THE LADY YOUR SEAT ! Fig. 181. (See Page 701.) 
