sually yield nearly so heavily as those producing
small to medium size nuts. I consider too early ripening as undesirable,
for those that ripen later are usually better keepers, but this does not
always hold true as some of the later ripening ones are also poor
keepers.

This year my trees have an excellent crop of burs and show promise of a
good average yield on each tree. Considering all things, I am highly
pleased with my Chinese chestnuts and believe they have a good future in
our section if no greater troubles arise than I now know of although
there is much room for improvement.

+Other Tree Crops+

Although Chinese chestnuts are my largest producing tree crop, I am
working with a number of other trees and shrubs for both nut and fruit
production, as well as other purposes. I have several Thomas black
walnuts which I set about 1938. Three of these have grown quite rapidly
and are beginning to produce nice crops of nuts, although the kernels
have a tendency to be spongy at times.

Of course, I have a small orchard of budded pecans, which do so well in
our section. These trees, which are young, are just coming into
production. Some other nut trees which I am trying in field plantings
include native chestnuts, chinkapins, hazel nuts, native black walnuts,
and scaly bark hickory (_Carya ovata_). Since most of these are young
and grow so slowly, I cannot say much about their production yet. I have
also planted quite a large number of white oaks from a high production
tree in hopes of producing acorns for hogs and wild life, also some cork
oaks on an experimental basis.

Among non-nut producers I am trying honeylocust, persimmons, and
mulberries. I also grow catalpa and black locust for fence posts. This
makes no mention of the great variety of native timber trees such as
pines, tulip poplar, and others which I try to protect from fires so as
to get as great a variety of trees as possible to use for various
purposes. I also encourage the growth of ornamental trees and shrubs
such as dogwood, redbud, and holly to add beauty to the landscape in
season.

Dr. J. Russell Smith's book, "Tree Crops" has been a great inspiration
to me along these lines, and I am attempting to study and use as many
trees, shrubs, and plants here on my place as possible because I
believe we can live easier and better and make better use of the land
both for ourselves and nature when we learn how to use our various
native plants to the be