nut is even superior ot the American chestnut in 
eating quality. 
The Chinese chestnut is now being grown 
throughout much of the United States. It is re- 
ported to be doing well from central Florida to the 
Canadian border and from the east coast to the 
west coast. It does best on the lighter soil types with 
good drainage and responds to good care with in- 
creased production and nut size. In general, sites 
suitable for peaches have proven equally desirable 
for Chinese chestnuts. 
When planting seedlings or varieties a minimum 
of 3 is recommended to assure pollination because 
the individual seedling tree or variety is self sterile, 
while all seedlings and varieties appear to be cross 
fertile so long as the season of bloom coincides. 
The nuts must be harvested at frequent inter- 
vals during the ripening season to hold field spoilage 
to a minimum, For long storage it is desirable to 
hold the nuts in cold storage in nearly moisture 
tight containers which still alow some ventilation. 
We use and recommend this type of storage for our 
seed nuts which permits spring planting of the nuts 
and a higher yield of trees. Nuts to be used for 
seed should not be allowed to dry out. 
Curing for eating purposes is a drying process 
accompanied by a change of starch to sugar. This 
process can be carried out either at room or cold 
storage temperatures with. the best eating quality 
being attained when the nuts have lost from 15 to 
18 percent in weight. The lower the temperature of 
curing the slower is the process, generally, and the 
better the eating quality. Coarse mesh bags or 
unsealed cardboard cartons are good containers for 
use during the curing process. Excessive drying 
destroys the usefulness of the nuts for eating pur- 
poses. 
, Although many growers still plant seed nuts 
in the fall we recommend spring planting as a 
means of overcoming losses from rodents and 
other factors during the winter. The Chinese chest- 
nut germinates at much lower temperatures than 
most seeds and should be planted as early as pos- 
sible in the spring. The nuts should be planted not 
over 2 inches deep and may be planted either in 
rows or beds in well-drained locations. We prefer 
beds with the nuts planted about 5 inches apart 
and then covered with about 1 inch of sawdust or 
other loose mulch as an aid in maintaining more 
constant soil temperature and moisture conditions. 
Recommended planting dates vary from about 
February list in the South to about April Ist in 
the North. 
Commercial fertilizers can be used either before 
planting the nuts or after the young trees are up. 
or both, provided it is well mixed with the soil if 
applied before planting. Mixtures such as 5-10-5, 
4-8-6, and 6-8-8 are good and may be used at rates 
of from 1-1% pounds per 100 square feet of bed. 
If a sawdust mulch is used the mixtures containing 
the highest percentages of nitrogen are required 
and additional nitrogen may be needed as side 
dressing at about midway of the growing season. 
While the chestnut is resistant to drought injury, 
irrigation during periods of drought will be bene- 
ficial while the trees are small. 
The young seedling trees in the nursery plant- 
ing may be ready to set in the orchard at the end 
of the first, second or third years depending upon 
