THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 2, 
l66 
tract. Growth of scion after uniting is embarrassingly 
vigorous on the stronger sprouts, and care is needed 
in pinching to form the heads before the growth is 
heavy enough to be in danger from winds. Fig. 70 
shows a Spring-grafted sprout in June, ready for 
pinching back, the stump from which it proceeds being 
hidden by the screen. The appearance of the trees at 
the end of the second and third years is well shown 
in Fig. 68. The trees in the foreground bore a few 
burs with large plump nuts. The w-eaker of the two 
sprouts from same stump will be cut away. Fig. 66 
shows some of the older trees, grafted 11 years. They 
are 18 to 20 feet high, average 10 inches through the 
trunk, and have borne several good crops. The Para¬ 
gon is a resistant tree; none has been injured by cold, 
and very few by storms, which are many and severe 
in this hillv region, but in 1903 they suffered a 
severe set-back in the depredations of cicadas or seven¬ 
teen-year locusts, which appeared in astounding num¬ 
bers and destroyed about all the younger wood. Mr. 
Reist thinks that three or four full crops were lost. So 
severe was the damage that many trees arc just out¬ 
growing it, and' all bear the scars of the insect visitation. 
There had been some good yields previously, consider¬ 
ing the circumstances, and the limited number of trees 
in bearing, but probably the best crop of all was har¬ 
vested last year, 1906, when even two-year trees were 
loaded to their capacity. We have no statement of 
the total* crop, but we are informed that many tons of 
nuts were harvested. 
HARVESTING THE NUTS.—The Paragon Com¬ 
pany’s original estimate was an average yield of 10 bush¬ 
els of marketable nuts per acre when in full bearing, to 
be handled at a profit of $1 the bushel. This would 
give the satisfactory annual return of $8,000 on an 
investment that will scarcely exceed $50 per acre, or 
$40,000 for the two 400-acre orchards. It has been 
demonstrated that a practically uniform stand of vig¬ 
orous productive trees may be had at moderate 
cost by grafting selected sprout lands with commer¬ 
cial varieties, and that the yields are likely to exceed 
the estimate. It now appears merely a matter of fight- 
ting the Chestnut weevils and economically marketing 
the nuts to realize the profit. Paragon burs open in 
that locality during early October, often without the 
aid of frost, but are occasionally blown off by high 
winds. The nuts are gathered and bagged by pickers 
—men, women and children of the neighborhood,— 
who receive one cent a pound during the height of 
the season and a slightly higher rate at the beginning 
and end. During the writer’s visit last October, after 
a sharp gale, the ground was covered with nuts and 
burs, and active pickers readily earned $2.50 and more 
a day. The unopened burs are carried to piles in the 
vacancies between the trees, and later opened by the 
pickers, who are provided with thick leather gloves. 
An attempt will later be made to thrash these burs by 
machinery and to burn all hulls, imperfect nuts and 
trash, including prematurely dropped burs in the field 
to destroy contained weevil grubs. Each squad of 
pickers is assigned definite territory, and is required 
CHESTNUT SPROUT GRAFTS. SECOND YEAR. Fig 08. 
to gather nuts clean and carry most of the open 
as well as unopened burs from beneath the 
trees, that they may not conceal nuts. The bags of 
nuts are hauled to a convenient packing house, and 
after proper credit has been given the pickers, ^re 
dumped into casks of about 20 bushels capacity, and 
thoroughly treated with carbon bisulphide by placing a 
sufficient quantity in shallow vessels on the nuts and 
covering with heavy blankets over night.This effectu¬ 
ally destroys any contained grubs without harming the 
nuts, as any lingering trace of the odorous bisulphide 
disappears in a day or two. The nuts are then poured 
on tables and carefully sorted by hand into two grades 
or sizes, entirely rejecting all wormy, light or imper¬ 
fect ones. The best nuts are bagged as Fancy Para¬ 
gon, in neat, new, double chocolate bags, holding 100 
pounds each, making with the showy imprint of the 
company an attractive package. Double bags have 
been found necessary in long shipments on account of 
the small boys’ propensity for working holes through 
ordinary sacking to get out the nuts. Sales were made 
1‘ARAGON CHESTNUTS. NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 69. 
as rapidly as the nuts were harvested at the average 
price of $12 the 100-pound bag. Orders were in excess 
of supply, and at the time of our visit a 500-pound lot 
was dispatched by express to Seattle, Washington, the 
same customer having bought similar amounts for sev¬ 
eral successive years. There appeared no difficulty in 
disposing of any quantity of Paragons that could be 
warranted free from weevils at the quoted price. The 
earliest nuts found eager purchasers at $15 per bag, 
and the best markets are found to be those in which 
true Paragons have previously been sold. 
THE CHESTNUT WEEVILS.—The problem of 
growing and handling commercial chestnuts ap¬ 
pears to be fairly well worked out. The in¬ 
dustry in Pennsylvania as well as elsewhere 
in this country, is but in its experimental stage, 
and many minor details remain to be perfected, but the 
most formidable obstacle is the damage caused by 
native weevils, of which two species confine their 
unwelcome attentions to the chestnuts. 1 he greater 
and lesser Che r tnut weevils are small curculio-like 
beetles provided with long snouts, at the apex of 
which are situated their minute but strenuous jaws. 
The beetles winter in the soil under the trees, and 
come out in July after the burs have set. They live 
partly on the foliage, and partly on the young burs, 
eating minute holes through them into the bases of 
the nuts, after which an egg is packed away in the 
excavation, which hatches out into the fat white grub 
known and abhorred by all Chestnut eaters. The 
female of the greater weevil usually contents herself 
with placing an egg or two in each nut penetrated, 
while the lesser one may put in a dozen, developing 
into enough grubs to devour the whole interior, but 
chiefly attacks chinquapins and the thinner hulled 
chestnuts. All kind of chestnuts are attacked by wee¬ 
vils, the Japan varieties suffering most, Paragon and 
other European varieties less and natives least. I he 
life history of these weevils is fairly well known, and 
the only vulnerable stages appear to be the grub in 
the nut and the beetle as he emerges from the soil in 
Summer. Once in the trees they cannot practically be 
destroyed by insecticides or kept from harming the 
crops. The eggs appear to be deposited at all seasons 
after the bur is formed, while still green, and until 
it begins to harden for maturity. The earliest grubs 
so injure the nuts that the burs prematurely drop and 
they escape in the soil to renew the pest next year. 
The later ones are in the nuts at maturity and may 
easily be destroyed. When mature the grub bores its 
way out of the shell soon after, the nut falls, as every 
chestnut gatherer knows, but the carbon bisulphide 
treatment effectually prevents this. If the premature 
burs could be gathered as they fall, and burned, or 
otherwise totally destroyed, and all nuts promptly 
treated at maturity, the pest would likely be much 
lessened, and this the Paragon Company hopes to do. 
When the beetle 'comes out of the soil he is for a 
short period rather helpless, and may be destroyed by 
pigs and chickens. The beetles appear quite local, like 
Plum curculios, and probably seldom leave the first 
tree in which they find shelter and food. Chestnut 
trees situated in poultry or hog-yards are known to be 
little troubled with weevils. These stockyard cures 
are not available on a large scale, though pigs in con¬ 
siderable number have been allowed range in the 
orchards under observation. The Paragon Company 
feels ihat it must rely on the destruction of grubs in 
the nuts, beginning with the earliest windfalls, and is 
preparing economically and thoroughly to work out 
the problem. Sheep in sufficient number to browse 
down the brush are being tried with good success, but 
care must be taken to destroy laurel and to remove 
the sheep as the nuts ripen, as they are found to eat 
them greedily. By the use of sheep on a large scale it 
is hoped the expense of brushing will be much reduced, 
and they may even return direct profit over their up¬ 
keep. The loss from weevil Is not easy to calculate, 
as many factors enter into it, but it is a most important 
item in American chestnut culture. 
PARAGON SO FAR THE BEST CHESTNUT.— 
While this enterprise has pinned its faith on the Para¬ 
gon variety the promoters have open minds in regard to 
the possibilities of other kinds. Several acres of the best 
sprouts have been grafted to promising commercial 
varieties of every race, native, Japan and European. A 
total of 22 varieties are under trial, many of which 
have been bearing several years. Thus far nothing 
approaching Paragon for general usefulness has been 
found. Scott, a European of home origin, is consid¬ 
ered a likely nut, smaller than Paragon, but smooth, 
of good quality and with a particularly attractive bright 
color, when fresh. The tree grows well and is inclined 
to be productive though somewhat deficient in pollen. 
The Japans are all objectionable on account of low 
quality and liability to weevil injury. Combale has 
been recommended as the most valuable of foreign 
varieties, but has not sufficiently fruited in these or¬ 
chards. The only natives under test are Hathaway and 
a curious “spineless” kind with small burs bearing 
scanty curved spines that may be handled with 
impunity. It is only regarded as a curiosity. Para¬ 
gon nuts arc shown in natural size in Fig. 69. When 
freshly gathered they do not appear equal in quality 
to natives, but after slight drying a sweet, rich flavor 
is developed, quite equal to many wild ones. Many 
large-fruited chestnuts are claimed to be of good qual¬ 
ity, but we have never found any as agreeable as true 
Paragons. It is a fairly rapid grower if not allowed 
to overbear at first and makes a fine well-balanced 
tree, needing practically no pruning. It is hardy every¬ 
where in the Middle States, but said to be less so 
than Ridgely, west of the Allegheny Mountains. It 
is a profuse bloomer and is self-fertile, usually having 
plenty of pollen. While not quite as precocious as 
SPROUT-GRAFT OF CHESTNUT. FIRST YEAR. Fig. 70. 
some of the Japans, it quiqkly comes into bearing and 
is productive to a fault, and at the same time as 
resistant to weevil as any good kind, the hulls being 
too thick in its later stage for the smaller species. 
w. v. F. 
Newspapers report that some newly discovered insect is 
eating the lead pipe insulation covering electric wires in the 
Chicago stock yards. This seems a rival for the South 
American beetle with jaws strong enough to cut through the 
zinc cover of a jar. 
