Vol. LVI. No. 2497 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 4 1897 . 
11.00 PER YEAR. 
A SPROUT-GRAFTED CHESTNUT TREE. Fig. 329. 
our tract of land, and had part of it cleared during 
the winter. On the part cleared, there were one and 
two-year-old sprouts; these were grafted in the 
spring of 1895. On June 12, we took a count of the 
Fig. 330. 
SOME NEW CHESTNUTS. 
On October 4, I visited Mr. J. W. Killen’s 
fruit and nut farm in Delaware. Mr. Killen 
has a large number of seedling chestnut 
trees grown from Japan nuts, and many of 
these are bearing. The most remarkable 
varieties of chestnuts 1 ever saw, are the 
Extra Early Japan, and th 3 Killen. Nuts 
of the Extra Early Japan were ripe, and 
burrs open, on September 3, and at the time 
of my visit many burrs were still hanging 
on the tree. I saw three %-bushel baskets 
full of nuts in the burr that had been 
picked from one tree, now probably seven 
years old. 
This original tree of the Extra Early Japan 
is about 12 feet high, with a spreading top about 10 or 
12 feet in diameter. The nuts are a rich dark brown, 
and every burr bears three large handsome nuts of 
uniform size. I saw no false nuts. The fact that this 
variety ripens a month before most other 
sweet chestnuts, and that it is of extra 
large size, rich color, and extremely 
productive, stamps it as of the greatest 
value to the commercial nut grower. 
The original tree of the Killen stands 
about 40 feet from the Extra Early 
Japan, and is of about the same age and 
size. I saw nearly a bushel of nuts in 
the burr, which Mr. Killen had picked, 
and the tree was still quite well loaded. 
The Killen chestnuts were ripe Septem¬ 
ber 18, which marks it also as an early 
nut, although more than two weeks 
later than the Extra Early Japan. The 
Killen is believed to be the largest sweet 
chestnut in cultivation ; it is a rather 
light brown, and grows three to five 
nuts in each burr. I measured speci¬ 
mens that were 53^ inches in circumfer¬ 
ence. Both the Killen and the Extra 
Early are of excellent quality. 
Mr. Killen also has bearing trees of 
the Ridgeley, Numbo, Felton, Paragon, 
Dager and several unnamed varieties of 
promise. Neither the Killen nor the Extra 
Early Japan has as yet been propagated 
for sale, and no trees of eUher variety 
are to be had at any price. Mr. Killen 
has a commercial orchard of about five 
acres of chestnuts just coming in bearing. He is 
conducting a series of very interesting experiments 
with different forms of potash and other fertilizers 
on sweet potatoes and strawberries. 
Every known variety of nut which will thrive in 
this climate is to be found on this farm. Mr. Killen 
has a fine row of Black-walnuts of very superior 
ZCHESTNUT CULTURE ON SPROUT LAND. 
BS 
NOT ALL A ONE-SIDED SUCCESS 
Troubles That Were Not Anticipated 
Three years ago, The R N -Y. visited the late H. 
M. Engle of Pennsylvania, and saw what he was doing 
in improved chestnut culture. Mr. Engle, 
at that time, had nearly 20 acres of rough 
forest land grafted to improved chestnuts, 
chiefly Paragon. His method of propaga¬ 
tion was very simple. The original chest¬ 
nut trees were cut down for firewood or 
timber, and the sprouts were permitted to 
grow from the stump ; the following year, 
after cutting all but three or more sprouts 
from each stump, they were grafted in much 
the same way that fruit trees are grafted. 
Two or three of these sprouts were started 
from each stump, and as they grew large 
enough to determine their vigor, all but the 
best ones were cut away. At the time of 
our visit, the grove was, certainly, in a very 
promising condition, and the prospects for 
success in this new business were quite flat¬ 
tering. Our readers have shown great in¬ 
terest in this matter, and have often called 
for further information. We are now able 
to show on this page, pictures of such trees, 
so that one may see just how they grow and 
develop from the stump. The following 
letter from Mr. Engle’s son is somewhat 
discouraging, and the enterprise seems to 
have partly failed for reasons which could 
not be foreseen three years ago. It will be 
noticed that Mr. Reist is aware of this 
danger from the weevil. He has cleared 
the tract of all underbrush, and will take great pains 
to remove all immature burrs and nuts. We shall be 
much interested to know how this experiment comes 
out, and we shall, also, be pleased to have other read¬ 
ers who have attempted this sprout 
grafting, give a synopsis of their results. 
hope of the orchard paying during some succeeding 
years. H. m. kngle * son. 
An Attempt to Beat the Weevil. 
Our experience with chestnut-growing covers only 
a*few years. In the autumn of 1894, we purchased 
Fig. 330 gives a good idea of the/general appear¬ 
ance and of the growth made. A few hundred of 
the 1895 trees bore nuts this season ; one of them had 
95 burrs. 
The prospects look promising for the future. The 
only thing we fear and dread is the weevil. We have 
cleared the tract of all underbrush. It is 
our plan to gather all immature burrs as 
they drop, and burn them, and when we 
gather the crop, to destroy all the burrs 
and the wormy nuts. By doing this, we 
hope to keep the weevil in check. We re¬ 
alize that we have a desperate enemy to 
fight, and that, to succeed, we must take 
every means known to destroy it. So far, 
we have sustained very little loss from any 
source. The storms broke off a very small 
percentage of the grafts. j. g. reist. 
Outcome of Mr. Engle’s Experiment. 
Our experience in grafting Paragon 
chestnuts on sprouts of the native 
variety, has not been altogether satis¬ 
factory, chiefly because of the weevil. 
The trees have made a good growth, as 
a rule, and are very thrifty-looking, but 
do not bear as profusely as trees on their 
own seedlings. In this we have been dis¬ 
appointed, for we supposed that they 
would bear the same as the trees on the 
farm. Why they do not we can’t tell. 
The worms, however, are the greatest 
drawback. If all the nuts were salable, 
it would not require so very many to 
make it pay; but when we have to 
throw out one-third or one-half, it cuts 
down profits very much. On the whole, 
it has not been a profitable enterprise, 
and unless some remedy be found for 
the worm, we fear that it will not be. 
The expense of keeping down the under¬ 
brush is considerable, as is also the nut 
gathering. If we had it to do again, we 
should plant grafted trees (or seedling 
trees and graft them afterward) on 
ground that could be cultivated, as we 
could make something out of the ground while the 
trees were growing. The expense of keeping down the 
underbrush is too great, especially on rough land. 
The crop this year was very light, but there were no 
native chestnuts at all in our section. In a chestnut 
year, the Paragon would, probably, do much better, 
End not be so wormy, so that we have not lost_all 
VIEW IN A PARAGON CHESTNUT GROVE. 
grafts, and found that we had over 3,300 growing, 
about 80 per cent of those set. Daring 1896, we added 
over 4,300 growing grafts. This year, the grafting 
was a partial failure, owing, we believe, to grafting 
too early in the season. We now have over 9,000 one, 
two and three-year grafted'trees. All-have made a 
very fine growth^ far -exceeding our expectations. 
