It is best for their growth that the
soil be gravelly and slightly acid.
The chestnut has always been a good timber tree. Its wood, although not
as hard as the red oak, resembles it in grain. The beams of many old
pioneer homes are found to be chestnut. It is said that this is one of
few woods to give a warning groan under too heavy a burden before it
cracks or breaks. Chestnut wood is very durable in contact with the
soil, outlasting all others except possibly black walnut and cedar. It
contains so much siliceous matter in its pores that it quickly dulls
chisels and saws used in working it.
The chestnut trees at my nursery were grown from mixed hybrid seeds
which I obtained from Miss Amelia Riehl of Godfrey, Illinois. Almost all
of the seeds she first sent me, in 1926, spoiled while they were stored
during the winter. But Miss Riehl sent me more the following spring,
many of which proved hardy. In 1937, the oldest of these trees produced
staminate bloom for the first time. I naturally expected a crop of nuts
from it that year, but none developed. The same thing happened in 1938.
I then wrote to Miss Riehl about it, also asking her where to look for
the pistillate blossoms.
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