new growth frozen in late spring while 
the tree on the overlooking hill escapes. 
Trees in a frost pocket will have their 
leaves killed in the autumn so that they 
cannot mature their fruit, while the trees 
on the nearby hill can breathe on for two 
or three weeks longer and finish up their 
year’s work. 
These early autumn freezes that catch 
a tree while still in active growth are 
particularly destructive because the tree, 
being full of sap. may freeze and split the 
bark. One year I had this happen to a 
number of Stayman Winesap apple trees 
under the following conditions. A careless 
stableman had manured them repeatedly 
through the summer because they were 
near the barn, and September had 11 
inches of rain; in late October, an un¬ 
usually early freeze. The heavily manured 
trees perished; the ordinary orchard es¬ 
caped. But a few trees at the outlet of 
roadside drains had benefited by an ac¬ 
cumulation of soil and repeated soakings 
at every rain. They also perished of 
“winterkill.” 
Second cause of winter killing—late 
growth in autumn. See page 14 on English 
Walnut. 
The third reason why we cannot speak 
yet authoritatively about the northern 
limit of the Chinese Chestnut is that dif¬ 
ferent trees may differ in the length of 
the required rest period of the tree. 
Nearly all of our frost-climate trees need 
frost to put them to sleep in the autumn, 
and then they will stay asleep until they 
have had a certain number of hours of 
cold weather. Now different species vary 
in the length of the required rest period. 
And in some species the different trees 
within the species vary in this respect. 
For example, the Elberta peach requires 
1000 hours of temperature at 45° F., or 
lower, during the winter to complete the 
rest period and resume normal growth 
under favorable spring temperatures, 
while the Hiley and other varieties re¬ 
quire 700 hours of temperature of 45° F., 
or lower, in order to finish the rest 
period, which means that the Hiley will 
start growing in a warm spell in Febru¬ 
ary, while the Elberta sleeps on, in warm 
winters. 
It seems to be true that some varieties 
of the Oriental Chestnuts have a shorter 
rest period than the American Chestnut. 
It will take a number of years and much 
experimenting to find out the exact facts 
in this field, in the meantime we cannot 
say for certain that the Chinese Chestnut 
will grow in the exact northern limit of 
the American Chestnut. But I am propa¬ 
gating one variety from a tree that has 
stood unharmed for many years in Con¬ 
necticut, and the thing for you to do, if 
vou live north of southern Connecticut, 
•/ 
is to regard your plantings as experi¬ 
mental. Get a few trees and try them out. 
Varieties: 
Connecticut Yankee (V) ". Original tree 
thriving in southern Connecticut. Nuts 
about |-1 inch across. 
Zimmerman (V). Original tree near 
Harrisburg, Pa. Nuts about lg inches 
across. 
Carr (V). Original tree in North Caro¬ 
lina, but of North China stock. Nuts about 
1 5 inches across. 
All these nuts are of beautiful brown 
color like the native American Chestnut 
and slightly larger. On an eating test you 
would have great difficulty in telling 
which was American and which Asiatic. 
The map of climatic zones on page 7 
will be a help to you in deciding what to 
plant in your location. 
Soil and Fertilizer for Chestnuts 
The Chestnut tree, more than any other 
nut tree, insists on well-drained soil. It 
will not stand wet feet. It will die in the 
meadow where the Pecan thrives. It does 
not particularly object to sandy soil, does 
not like lime, does not mind some acid, 
can survive in less fertility than any 
other nut tree but rejoices in plenty of 
plant food. One autumn I sent a wagon 
straddling the rows of little Chestnut 
trees in my nursery, spreading manure as 
it went. Next year those trees made from 
3 to 4 feet of new growth. 
It seems to be a fact that the abun¬ 
dantly fed Chestnut tree is more resistant 
to blight than a hungry one, so the argu¬ 
ment for feed is 100 per cent plausible. 
Put it on, but put it on in the spring only 
so that the tree can use it early and go 
into winter quarters with well ripened 
wood. Stable manure is unrivalled but a 
complete fertilizer, 4% nitrogen, 12 °/ 0 
phosphorus, 4% potash (4-12-4) is good. 
And don't let grass crowd the young tree 
for the first three years of its life. Grass 
is the best tree killer known except fire 
and goats. And by the way, the sheep 
spent a couple of days one dry autumn in 
my Chinese Chestnut nursery and did not 
eat the leaves. 1 can’t tell you what they 
would do to tender young leaves. 
* V refers to zone on map, page 7. 
4 
